Misadventures of the No-name Pup
by My Thoughts and Opinions
Summary: After his first task, The Expert has more mission-less adventures in store. Join him in this story as he goes through all the fun, problematic and crazy adventures along the way! (Even worse summary.) WARNING: Stupidity still ensues.
1. The Chickaletta Mishap Part 1

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! This is the second main series that will be on my account, called 'Misadventures of the No-name Pup', or of course, 'Misadventures'. This is basically anything that happens between major missions, and these events will be chronicled in this story. If this is a good idea, I'll keep doing it like this. If not, I'll merge this with the main series to keep it as it was before. All you have to do is let me know! WARNING: Please read the story 'Adventures' before reading 'Misadventures'.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own rights to this show. All are the property of Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Spin Master and Viacom.**

Despite being cleared for missions, The Expert wanted to stay behind. He wanted to be ready to take another hit, if necessary. **[Plothill.]** Marshall had allowed him to do so, understanding why.

But The Expert wasn't alone. Rererangi would always visit _Ko Taku Aroha_ , as she called him, and talk to him about whatever it was that was on her mind. The Expert always enjoyed these visits, however emotionlessly. **[He's a stoic. Of course he's emotionless. ... And you already know that. Stupid me has returned for this story.]**

She had said that she was actually an albino pup and that she hated the condition the last time she visited, and The Expert had told her, "I'm an albino too. It's not a disorder, it's a special occurrence. You're not strange, you're outstanding. _E aroha ana ahau ki a koe mo wai koe, ehara i te mea kei a koe_. I love you for who you are, and not what you are." **[For a stoic, he can deliver the best of loving speeches.]** That meeting had ended well. **[Of course it did.]**

This day, however, The Expert was deep in thought as he tried to concoct a plan. When Rere entered the Lookout, The Expert did acknowledge her presence, but he quickly returned to his pondering. Rere began to grow anxious.

" _Ko Taku Aroha_ , what's - " Rere was cut off.

"Nothing is wrong, Rererangi." **[Wouldn't be him, or me, without that.]**

Rere sighed. "I love it when you do that." **[I didn't think that was possible.]** Her face then turned into a confused one. "But if nothing is wrong, why do you look like that?"

"I'm trying to concoct a plan for the pups. They have been going on a lot of missions lately, and they had to rescue Chickaletta each time." **[Shout-out to GriffTalon for this idea.]**

Rere thought for a moment. "Chickaletta is the mayor's purse chicken, right?"

The Expert confirmed.

"So what are you trying to do?"

"Create a device or something to make sure that she doesn't run off again and cause an issue." He still hadn't turned to look at the New Zealand heading dog. **[Idea this for GriffTalon to shout-out.]**

"Why don't you ask Rocky? He _is_ the gadget genius."

"Already tried. He's too tired to think lately."

"Well, how about you come up with something, and then ask Rocky? Would that work?" **[Although this is a good idea, it's not a plothill. Why? Because I don't want it to be. Insane Troll Logic, I love it.]**

"Yeah, it would. You really are _atamai_ ," The Expert said as he wheeled around.

Rere giggled. "Thank you, _Ko Taku Aroha_."

* * *

Not long after, Rererangi had left and The Expert had come up with something: an immobilising tag. If the wearer of the tag were to be in a dangerous situation, the tag would activate and prevent them from getting into trouble. **[Pretty self-explanatory, don't you think?]** He brought the idea to Rocky, who agreed to do it and got down to business.

Soon enough, the tag was completed and shown to The Expert, who tested it by walking toward the edge of the cliff on which the Lookout stood. Rocky stood behind and observed what happened. **[If this doesn't work, we'll kill Rocky in the next chapter. ... What am I doing with my life, that I just typed that sentence?]**

When The Expert reached the cliff, the tag did indeed stop him from moving off of it. Rocky silently praised himself for not killing The Expert.

When The Expert tried to move backwards, the tag deactivated and The Expert was free to move again. Rocky smiled at their success. **[Awesome. Moving on.]**

"We did it, but do you really think that this'll work for Chickaletta?" Rocky questioned curiously.

"Yeah. All we need now is to ask Ryder," was The Expert's deadpan answer. **[While it's not in his bio, the word 'deadpan' definitely suits him to a T.]**

So the two pups visited Ryder and explained the plan.

"I made this immobilising tag. It stops the one wearing it from getting into trouble by preventing their movement," said Rocky.

"This way, Chickaletta won't be able to run off into dangerous situations again," The Expert finished. **[Well, she won't get into 'dangerous situations', but she could run off. Or maybe the tag prevents that too. ... Hmm.]**

Ryder thought for a while and eventually complied. "Maybe this would be a good idea. We'll see what happens when we try it."

And with that, Ryder, The Expert and Rocky set off to find the mayor of Adventure Bay.

* * *

When they arrived at City Hall, Mayor Goodway and, to an extent, Chickaletta greeted them. **[You know, I've never, ever understood why on Earth Goodway idolises that chicken. Is she just that stupid, or am I? Than again, could be the latter...]**

"Hi, Mayor. We were wondering if you wanted to keep Chickaletta safe," said Ryder.

"Oh, yes! That would be wonderful!" Mayor Goodway said enthusiastically. **[Gratuitous enthusiasm is her specialty. Just saying.]**

 _That was way too easy,_ thought Ryder and Rocky as they looked at each other. **[Yes. Yes it was.]** The Expert, meanwhile, had already placed the tag on Chickaletta's right wing. **[That was quick.]**

"Thank you for your time. Have a nice day," said The Expert in his usual stoicism. **['Usual stoicism'. From where do I keep getting these accurate phrases?]**

As the trio headed home, Ryder asked The Expert, "What spurred you to do this?"

The Expert would-have-smiled and said, "My teammates just needed some well-deserved rest." **[What a Nice Guy.]**

 **And the first chapter of this new story has been completed! It had taken a while longer than I would have liked, but here it is. I sincerely hope that this story is not bad to you.**

 **Bye! Have a nice day! See you in the next chapter! Don't forget to review! Send a PM! Maybe some ideas, alright?**


	2. The Chickaletta Mishap Part 2

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! This is now the second chapter of 'Misadventures', and I want to get it done, so that I can continue with 'Adventures'; hope that it's not a problem for you all. Anyway, you can guess what I want to say: please read and review!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I'll say this: I don't own rights to any show whatsoever. Does that suffice? I hope so.**

A few days later, the PAW Patrol was completely and utterly, and to some extent literally, bored stiff. **[I got that bored once. Very painful.]** No missions were being reported to them, and eventually the team had sunk into the deepest abyss of enervation. And The Expert knew exactly why.

He had himself stopped abruptly the missions from coming in, by preventing the source of the missions from providing them. And this state of stupor in the atmosphere, he felt, was essentially his fault. **[To be fair, it's both his and Rocky's fault.]**

So he concealed himself in his pup house, refusing to talk to anyone - anyone, but Rererangi - about his state of mind. And if he hadn't smiled before, he certainly wasn't going to now. He had moved so little that he might as well have been recovering from a broken leg. He had dropped to one of the lowest known states of emotion - even lower than stoicism - and only one thing would raise his morale. **[I didn't think that below stoicism was even possible.]**

Making it right. **[Well, sort of.]**

Rere didn't like to see him in such a dismal frame of mind. It pushed her to the brink of tears to see her favourite pup so low. **[Sadness breeds sadness. Life rule #371.]** She wished that she could help him.

Then she had an idea.

* * *

"Rocky, did you make something to stop Chickaletta from getting into trouble?" she asked.

Rocky was caught off guard. "How did you know?"

Rere giggled at what she was about to say. "Someone told me. He says, 'I'm an expert at these things.'." **[She might as well have said it herself.]**

The mixed breed was now more surprised than ever. "What did you do to make him talk?" he questioned.

Rere shrugged off the question. "Why don't you just try to talk to him? Would that work?" **[The 'Would that work?' always works.]**

Rocky agreed wordlessly and trotted over to the stoically melancholy albino Bernese mountain dog PAW Patrol detective.

* * *

But as usual, before he spoke a word, The Expert said bluntly, "Yes, I'm fine. Please tell Ryder that I need to leave. I'll probably come back in a bit." And he left. **[Just like that? Very blunt. ... Typical.]**

Rocky stood stock-still and watched The Expert leave, before doing what he said.

And Rererangi, who had been watching the two, followed her crush to wherever he was going.

* * *

When Rocky reached the top of the Lookout, Ryder saw him and inquired to know why Rocky was there.

"Our detective pup has gone - "

"Gone?!" Ryder's voice almost sounded as though he was happy. **[I would have pulled out the 'That's sadistic' card, but I can't. Because it isn't sadistic. Also, leap to conclusions and you lead to confusions. #RafikiOfTheLionKing.]**

Rocky shook his head. "No - not gone. He's gone _out_. As in, he's not here for a while."

"Oh."

"He said he would be back in a little while," Rocky informed Ryder. **[Actually, he said he would _probably_ be back in a while. Stop giving out false information, Rocky.]**

"Alright, then," said a quasi-disappointed Ryder as Rocky left.

"I wonder what he's doing now," Ryder stated to no one in particular.

* * *

The Expert was just finishing a search for the mischievous Chickaletta so that he could remove the tag from her wing and thereby bestow upon her the ability to get into trouble again. **[Weird way of putting it, me.]** He found her near the crevice in which she had fallen when Skye and Rocky had been on their camping trip. **[Unimportant note: that was actually the episode when I discovered ChasexSkye. Good memories.]**

The Expert approached the frozen chicken and took off the tag, freeing Chickaletta from her stillness. This meant that she was now able to fall into the crevice. And that she did. **[Okay, all is well, now call the pups.]**

But The Expert wasn't going to stop there. **[Seriously?]** He wanted so badly the pups to have an exciting rescue, so he threw himself into the crevice, unnecessarily convincingly. **[Oh come on. This is over the top now.]** Or so it seemed to him.

Rererangi witnessed the scene, and seeing The Expert fall in, she scampered over to make sure that he was okay. **[He's fine. He might've fallen some 45 feet, but he's fine. TV and fanfic logic, that's how.]**

When she arrived at the crevice's edge, The Expert saw her and immediately said, "Fine, I'm fine. Just go get Ryder and the team, please."

Rere ran off to do what she had been instructed. Along the way, she said, "I love it when he reads my mind... I love the way he's so stoic all the time... I love him so much..." **[Please don't continue that.]**

* * *

Arriving at the Lookout, Rere immediately went to Ryder, passing Rocky along the way. He tried to ask why she was in such a rush, but she didn't hear him. He immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Something was wrong with The Expert. **[That's quite perceptive, Rocky.]**

He began to grow in fear for his compatriot and began to run to Ryder as well, only to stop and wait knowing that he'll be called up anyway. **[This could be either a plothill or a plothole. Don't know which to say.]**

Meanwhile, the New Zealand heading dog had reached Ryder on the top floor, repairing the big screen. She began to spill the story to him unintelligibly, and he became very confused.

"Rere, wait, slow down. Tell me what happened, slowly," he said as he put down his screwdriver.

Rererangi took a breath and began again. "Well, I had followed _Ko Taku Aroha_ \- "

 _Ko Taku Aroha?_ Ryder thought.

" - to a clearing in the woods, with a narrow crevice in it. Chickaletta was on the edge, frozen like she was in an ice block. "

 _Sounds like the tag,_ Ryder thought. _The place kinda sounds like that place where Skye and Rocky went camping. That means The Expert went there to -_

"Ryder, are you listening?" **[Wake up!]**

Rere snapped Ryder out of his thoughts. "Oh, sorry. I am now. Please continue."

"Okay. Then I saw him take some sort of tag off of her wing, and then she was able to move again. And then she fell into the crevice. But then, so did _Ko Taku Aroha_. When I went to check on him, he said that he was fine and told me to get you. So I ran all the way here."

Ryder froze as though he had put on the immobilising tag. "You ran from there to here?" **[It's not what you think it is - ah, who am I kidding. Of course it's what you think it is.]**

"Yeah. Not very hard."

Ryder thought about this for a while, before he pulled out his Pup-pad and said, "Well, we'll get them both out. No job is too big, no pup is too small!" He then slid out the panel with the red button that calls the PAW Patrol, and pressed said red button before saying, "PAW Patrol, to the Lookout!"

All the pups jolted up from their boredom and said, "Ryder needs us!" They began to run excitedly toward the Lookout elevator. Marshall, as usual, ran in last and tripped on nothing, falling onto the other pups. **[Marshall is back in business, people. The business of being the laughingstock of the team.]**

"I think that it's been too long since I've done that," Marshall said, earning some laughs as the elevator doors closed and the elevator began its ascent. **[Prepare to be subject to incredible laziness from me.]**

Once at the top, the pups, now in uniform, jumped out and assumed their positions. Chase called out the well-known catchphrase.

Ryder then gave the pups, now sans Rererangi who had left, the issue. Chase and Marshall were selected to help their pup detective: Chase to get The Expert and Chickaletta out of the crevice, and Marshall to make sure that they were not hurt. **[Plothill.]**

So the two pups, and Ryder, drove off to the forest.

* * *

The Expert was sitting in the crevice, feeling no emotions as usual, as Chickaletta snored away on the bush. **[Typical of them, wouldn't you say?]** When he heard the PAW Patrol arriving, he said to himself, "Awesome. They're here. Rererangi must have delivered my message." He then turned his speech to no one at all. "I love her. I love her selflessness, her lovingness, her attitude as a whole... I really love her..." **[I'll say the same thing; don't continue that. Please.]**

He stopped when he saw the winch that was lowered into his reach. He nudged Chickaletta with his nose and woke her up. He gripped the winch line with his teeth while Chickaletta hopped onto the hook. **[For about the first time ever, Chickaletta does something smart.]** The Expert tugged the line, signalling to Chase to retract the winch line, which he did. The two trapped in the crevice were soon free.

Marshall quickly went to check on The Expert and Chickaletta, and concluded that they had sustained no injuries. **[We did say he was fine, didn't we?]** Ryder then realised something. He asked the albino pup, "Why - "

"The collar broke. That's why." **[Wouldn't be a proper chapter without him doing that.]**

Ryder shook and nodded his head at the same time and said, "Let's all go home now."

So The Expert climbed into Chase's police cruiser, and the team took Chickaletta back to Mayor Goodway (who didn't even realise that Chickaletta was actually gone **[How, though? She could very well have been gone for days on end!]** ) and then drove home, glad to have their spell of boredom gone. **[Nice. I hate boredom. And bored people.]**

 **And chapter 2 is complete! This chapter might not have taken long to publish, but it really put a dent in my brain trying to get it done for you guys quickly. So I do hope you enjoy this my-brain-busting chapter!**

 **Bye! Have a nice day! See you in the next chapter! Don't forget to review! Send a PM! Maybe some ideas, alright?**


	3. The Expert's Story

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! Today is the day. We are officially unveiling The Expert's background in this chapter of 'Misadventures'! This chapter is also going to be a very rare 'No Comments' chapter, in which I add no T &O's to the story. This is a serious chapter, so I won't joke around. Hope that this isn't a problem. If it is, fear not, because this, as I said, is very rare. You might not even see another one of them.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own any rights to this show. All are the property of Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Spin Master and Viacom. ... What? I said I wouldn't joke around.**

The day after the Chickaletta mishap, the PAW Patrol was feeling much more energised, having gone on missions the day before. They had felt that the last state of boredom was too much to handle, and were glad that it was done.

Yet there was something that the pups wanted to be revealed; The Expert's story. He had indeed mentioned a few times some things that had happened, but they, being so inquisitive, felt as though they needed to know more. So they came up to him and asked the albino pup.

"First, I have to say that it is a long, sad and awful story. Second, I want everyone to listen to it," he insisted.

The pups did a headcount, and became confused, for all of the Patrol was there. When they looked up at The Expert, he motioned to a white pup approaching them.

Almost all of the team understood, as they realised that if the tale was told without Rererangi present, that would be quite unfair. As for Chase, he smiled at himself, for he knew a second reason behind The Expert's insistence.

Rere wasn't out of breath when she arrived. Quite the opposite; she seemed as though she had just come from a few metres away.

"Hey, pups!" she said cheerfully. "Why are you all lined up here?"

"He," Chase declared while pointing to The Expert, "was just about to tell us his story."

Rere's enthusiasm vanished. She remembered that her _Ko Taku Aroha_ had said that it was very sad indeed. Nevertheless, she sat down and motioned for the speaker to begin.

"Well, when I was a young pup, my parents were always caring and always assured me that life works out for the best. They loved me and I them.

"My mother was arrested falsely for first degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. I knew who was the killer - I was there when it happened and I had seen who had done it - yet they wouldn't listen to me, saying that I was too young to understand what had occurred. They took her away and sentenced her to life imprisonment.

"That was why I joined the police force - to find the rightful killer and avenge my mother. And I did, and he was arrested. They were about to release my mother, when it was found that, also being an albino, she had already died of skin cancer. I didn't smile for about three months."

All the pups wanted to cry now; Rere was already. This story was sadder than they had imagined, and they wished they hadn't been so curious.

"I served the community well, until that fateful day when I got removed from my previous occupation; my father was so depressed that he began to try to drown his sadness. All this did was ruin his already fragile health, to the point where he couldn't think clearly.

"One day, he took up an offer on the phone to get a chance to win a large sum of money, if he would arrive at the local casino. Normally, being a police interrogator, he would not have taken a second thought about going; he would have just hung up. But he was not in his right mind, and he accepted the offer.

"When he left to go to the casino, I had decided to follow him to see exactly what he was going to be doing. Turns out, he was doing Russian Roulette. You know it?"

The PAW Patrol and Rererangi gasped through their tears, which were now falling, and nodded. Ryder had told them about this game, and how it was not to be considered as a joke or as fun. They couldn't believe what they had heard.

"Not only that; it was a scam. The gun involved was actually fully loaded, meaning that my father would die no matter what was the outcome of the barrel spin. My father could not see that this was the case, still under the influence of alcohol. I did, though. I knew that it would be futile to try to prevent him from pulling the trigger, so I dashed off to the police station.

"I did my best to explain the situation to the officers, who agreed to arrest the killer. When we arrived at the casino, the killer was just trying to leave the scene. The officers immediately arrested him; however, I re-entered the gambling building.

"That is where I found my father, on the ground, lifeless. I walked up to him and saw, to my absolute horror, that he was actually still smiling, even in death. This meant that he had died smiling as he thought of the money that he thought he would have. After that day, if I smiled, I would remember that day, and the smile that my father wore in his death. So my solution: I would never smile again."

Silence fell upon the group.

The Expert simply waited for what would happen next. "3... 2... 1..."

At that moment, all of the pups smothered him in a giant hug, uttering their condolences to him. They said that they were sorry; sorry that these things had happened; sorry that they asked him to tell them.

The Expert just sat up and said, "It's not a problem. But, well, now you know what happened to me, and why I'm like this. You don't have to be sorry for asking me. All you really should be, is grateful. Grateful for the things and the people that you have."

The pups nodded at this wise advice. They dried their tears and left him alone, wiser and more grateful for who they have; especially each other.

 **There. That is The Expert's background story. It is sad. So sad that I don't feel like saying anything funny. So I'll just say:**

 **Bye. Have a nice day. See you in the next chapter. Don't forget to review. Send a PM. Maybe some ideas, alright?**


	4. The Criminal's Story

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! This chapter, as said on the tin, will explore The Criminal's background. Now, unlike The Expert's, this isn't necessarily sad, so this will not be a serious chapter; there will be comments. Read, enjoy (if you can) and review! Please?**

 **DISCLAIMER: I would own rights to this show, if I were Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Spin Master and Viacom. But I am not.**

When the pups returned to the Lookout, to their relief and surprise, no one had awoken. They checked every house, and even Ryder's room, but everyone was asleep. **[No one gets up without Chase? Now that's lazy.]**

"What's today; Sleep-In Day?" The Expert asked no one. **[Actually, when this chapter was released, the date was the 29th of June.]** Chase heard him and chuckled a little.

"No, I think it's because we didn't wake them up this morning," Chase pointed out. He barked out his megaphone and walked outside.

"Wake up everyone!" Chase yelled at the top of his voice. **[Chase's shout multiplied by the megaphone's amplifier equals morning time for everyone.]** The pups, despite all hearing the message, reacted in very different ways.

Skye jumped up and was wide awake already. Rocky got up rather lazily and scratched behind his bent ear. Zuma protested a little, but got up nonetheless. Rubble woke up, then promptly asked for breakfast. As for Marshall, he somnambulated out of his house, resulting in him tripping on a squeaky toy left out. **[I think those were all fairly typical. Were they?]**

"I'm good!" he quickly confirmed.

Then all of the pups looked at Chase.

"What is it, Chase?" Rocky questioned.

Chase turned to The Expert and was about to ask about The Criminal, but The Expert wasn't listening. **[Now, it wouldn't be right if the story was told without the pup whose story it is. Otherwise, they could be mad that someone gave away their life, so to speak. Plothole by Chase.]** He was focused on the path up the hill upon which the Lookout stood. And approaching them was a white figure, whom the PAW Patrol assumed was Rererangi, the albino New Zealand heading dog.

However, this dog was not like Rere. It seemed tired as it approached. **[That's not the biggest difference in the world.]** And it looked impossibly like a certain albino pup detective...

It was indeed The Criminal. **[That was really quickly done.]**

Chase couldn't believe how fast he had gotten out. They had just sent him to jail! How was he out already?

And the others, well, they just kept turning their heads from one white pup to the next. They thought they were seeing double. **But if that were the case, The Expert would have been running toward them too. ... Utterly unimportant information, but whatever.]**

The Expert, as usual, was blasé. **[He's a stoic and everything.]** He said, "Greetings and salutations. You're out a little early this time around. Why the quick escape?"

The Criminal simply shrugged. "I remembered that your PAW Patrol teammates here didn't meet me, so I thought I'd introduce myself before I go back to jail." **[He can talk surprisingly apathetically about going to jail.]** He took a small breath before continuing. "I already know their names. Marshall, Rubble, Rocky, Zuma, Skye; Chase was with you before you took me to jail," he stated, pointing to each pup in turn. **[This only makes me sure that The Criminal is a fan of the pups.]**

The Expert nodded. Then he turned to everyone and said, "Don't be so surprised. This isn't my twin brother." They seemed to snap out of their catatonia, except for Chase.

The Criminal spoke up too. "And Chase, I'll let you in on a little secret: The Expert once had to arrest me four times in a single day." **[What were you trying to do? I seriously don't know how that's even physically possible. And I wrote it!]**

"Want to break that record?" The Expert inquired as Chase relieved himself from his stupor.

"Maybe some other time," The Criminal responded, and his lookalike agreed wordlessly. "I kind of want to tell them my story." **[You did? How thematic.]**

"We were just about to begin that. Want to help tell it?" The Criminal grinned and nodded. "Good."

"But where - "

"Really, don't worry about who's here and who isn't here. Just talk." **[Those are going in the milestone stats. I'm not lying.]**

During that conversation, Chase was listening to them, and was surprised to find that The Criminal knew so much. But he quickly returned to his original position to listen to the two albino Bernese mountain dogs.

"What is your name?" asked The Expert for everyone else.

"You know I - " The Criminal began, but adjusted to suit the other pups. "I don't have one, but I am called The Criminal." **[Aside from his emotional expressions, he has a legitimate case of being The Expert's brother, in terms of bluntness.]**

The pups, sans Chase, gasped. They had no idea how their pup detective could have such friendly conversations with this pup criminal. **[Maybe because they're friends?]**

"The criminal what?" said Marshall, not fully understanding. **[Marshall is almost as stupid as I am. No hard feelings to Marshall lovers.]**

"No; just The Criminal. Nothing else."

"If you'we a cwiminal, why are you hewe and not in jail, dude?" Zuma questioned. **[Three options. Either he broke out, he was bailed out, or he did his time. The first is the most fun, so we'll use that.]**

"I escaped. That's all," he said nonchalantly.

"You escaped? How?" asked Zuma.

 _I think the question is, how in five minutes?_ thought Chase, still not really believing. **[Yes, Chase. That is the question. Now if only someone had the answer.]**

"That's not important now," was the answer. **[Oh. So that's the answer.]**

"How do you two know each other?" Skye asked while motioning to both albinos.

"We met back when I was still working for the police force in the town two towns over. He had stolen some cash from a supermarket, and I caught him and took him to jail," The Expert interrupted.

"Yeah. And the next day, I visited him in the police headquarters. You should have seen the look on his face!" The Criminal said as he smiled. **[I can imagine what it looked like. I'm almost laughing right now!]**

"In all fairness, I wasn't a stoic back then."

"Doesn't make it any less funny." The Expert half-shrugged.

"Where are you from?" asked Chase, who sounded like he was going to die of impatience. **[Actually, many things will kill you before impatience. Dehydration, starvation, sunstroke, and the ever-present boredom.]**

The Criminal was about to delve into the story, but stopped and said, "Are you sure you want to hear it? It's really sad." **[No. I think I've had enough sadness to last me a month.]**

All the pups were just about to protest against more sadness when The Expert said, "Brass-faced liar. I already told them my story, and I believe that was sad enough, so don't make them worry about how sad your story is."

The Criminal faked a hurt emotion. "What? Why didn't you invite me?" he questioned. **[I would have said something here, but it's said on the next line anyway.]**

"Because you hadn't come here yet," The Expert said straightforwardly, to which The Criminal just grinned lopsidedly and said, "Touché." He then put on a serious face and began the story for the increasingly impatient pups.

"I never knew my parents. All I know is that my father died before I was born, and my mother when I was born. But let's not dwell on that topic for too long; there's still plenty to go. **[Great! I can't wait.]**

"I lived life as a stray - still am, but whatever - and I survived by finding, and on occasion stealing, food. That's when I discovered that I was a very sneaky pup. And it wasn't long until I began to resort more to stealing food.

"Soon, the idea came to me that I could steal money from others to make my life better. I got into criminal ways like that. **[Sounds like a selfish Robin Hood.]**

"I robbed quite a few stores before I met my compatriot. There was the one in Fairfeel, the one in Senburg, the one in Troi and the one in Peiro. That last one was a little bit tricky, and I had to go on the run from the cops. That run led me to that town where The Expert found me robbing that supermarket. **[So, you ran all that way? How, then, if you were tired only on the run from the station to the Lookout?]**

"When I was in prison, I felt so tired waiting for the sentence to end that I just decided to dash out when we were let out for exercise. Then I went to see The Expert. Like I said, when he saw me, his face was priceless; I actually fell over in laughter."

"That's when I rearrested him," The Expert cut in. "And rinse and repeat. However, each time he came in, he'd have a talk with me. I once asked him where he lived, and he said in a clearing in the forest surrounded by very tall trees and with soft grass in it. **[I feel as though I should point out that that was unnecessary info.]** And so our relationship grew, despite us never being outright friends."

"Yeah. Now, the day before he got fired," The Criminal continued, "he had sent me back to prison, and of course I escaped, but this time I decided to stay away for a while, to give him a small break from me. **[Sounds nice enough.]** But when I escaped again, he wasn't there. The other officers saw me and thought that I was him, and they chased me out. **[Well, I don't blame them. The Criminal looks just like The Expert.]** I didn't see him again for a long time.

"I had even tried to find him by robbing other stores, but that got me sent to jail a lot of times. **[I thought you said you were sneaky. How, then, were these amateur officers able to get you? ... That's actually a good question.]** I only learned that he was here in Adventure Bay yesterday night, and I wanted to see him again, so I escaped and came here.

"And that's why, Chase, I set him up for those thefts. If he got arrested, I'd go back to jail and see him there. But I knew he was too smart for that to happen, so I waited for him near the clearing. **[Smart guy. He knows his stuff.]** Chase nodded in understanding.

"Then he found me and took me back to jail, but I realised that I still hadn't introduced myself to you pups. And so I broke out and ran here to do just that. These events lead us up to ... now." **[Well, he kinda forgot the part where he just told his background story to everyone. Evidently, that isn't important.]**

The pups, who were completely silent, now began to express their thanks to The Criminal for the serious, yet ironically funny, tale. **[Completely different reaction to this background story than to The Expert's.]** They began to disperse, at which time The Expert nudged his lookalike and said, "If you want, I have some stuff in the pup house you could steal to go back to prison."

The Criminal shook his head. "Actually, I think I'll just run back. It'll be easier and you won't have to waste time taking me there."

The Expert half-shrugged and complied. He and his villainous pseudo-twin parted ways for the day, to have more fun at their next meeting. **[Nice. If I were me, I'd stay tuned for the next one.]**

 **And there is the end! Hope you enjoyed! The Criminal is probably one of the friendliest antagonists that you may come across. I mean, he visits The Expert and the rest of the pups and has an amiable chat with them! I know of at least one villain who won't even think about talking to the good guy(s) on friendly terms. But, I like to be original. No problem?**

 **Bye! Have a nice day! See you in the next chapter! Don't forget to review! Send a PM! Maybe some ideas, alright?**


	5. A Sniffle and a Sneeze

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! The fifth chapter of 'Misadventures'! In this one, something kinda interesting happens with The Expert. What is it? That's to be revealed when you read! And it doesn't take much time out of a schedule to review, so please do!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I hate typing disclaimers. They remind me that I'm not doing well enough at life to own rights to shows, especially this one.**

After a particularly cold night, The Expert was first to rise, as was now the custom. He walked out of his pup house and began to wait for Chase to get up as well, but a series of irresistible involuntary sneezes escaped him. He rubbed his nose and sniffled.

"Might be getting a little cold," he said to himself. "If that's the case, I better stay in a while and rest. It'd be best to get better before my sickness spreads." **[Plothill.]** So he turned around and re-entered his pup house, just as Chase woke up.

Chase poked his head out of his house, expecting his pup detective friend to be outside waiting for him, but he didn't see the aforementioned pup detective. **[I feel like I should be worried, even though I typed this entire thing and know what will happen. Hmm.]**

"Hmm. **[I ... kind of ... just said that.]** I would have bet my own week's worth of treats that he would've been out here," Chase remarked. "What's going on?"

Chase decided to walk up to the white pup's white house and ask him. But before he could see The Expert, he saw a white paw signalling to Chase to stop. He did so as a muffled voice called out, "I'm sick, so don't come by. **[Plothill again.]** It would be nice if you could send Marshall to me, though."

"Okay, then," Chase answered. He then ran to wake up the pups.

Meanwhile, the sick pup lay down, curled up and tried to go back to sleep, at which he succeeded. **[That's impressive to me. I barely get to sleep after 30 minutes.]**

* * *

Rererangi was skipping happily up the path which led up the Lookout's hill. She was looking forward to seeing her favourite pup, _Ko Taku Aroha_ as he was called by her, and she certainly wouldn't pass up some fun with the other PAW Patrol pups as well. **[I feel stupid for not saying this earlier. _Ko Taku Aroha_ is Maori for 'My Love'. If you knew that, or you found that out before this chapter, then great! I give you information you have already. If not, now you know.]**

Upon arriving, though, she saw that The Expert wasn't awake. This surprised her, as she had never seen him asleep before, but to her he was even more adorable while sleeping. **[Surprised I am not.]**

"How could he be any cuter?" she asked herself while slowly slipping into a love trance.

Suddenly, he made a small sneeze. **[Maybe that's how he could.]** Rere was caught a little off guard, but she giggled at the little scene.

"I think that's how," she remarked through a smile. **[I would have said something here, but I think you know what it is.]**

However, as the sneezes became more violent and more frequent, she became concerned for the condition of his health, and ran off to find Marshall.

* * *

Chase was already there, explaining the situation to his long-time best friend, when she arrived. She shouted out to get their attention.

Both male pups heard the shout and turned to the pup who had made it. They saw the New Zealand heading dog coming toward them at a dead run.

Marshall seemed interested to know what she had to say, but Chase was smirking at a thought of what he would do when she arrived. There could be only one thing that would make her run like that toward Marshall, specifically speaking. **[Chase, must you exploit your knowledge of her relationship with The Expert? ... But if you didn't, that would not be quite as fun, now would it?]**

Rere skidded to a stop before them and began to tell them her issue, but she was stopped by an unlikely source.

"Marshall, I think you should check out his cold," stated Chase with a large grin on his face. **[So he decided to fill in for the master of speech predictions? I must admit, he doesn't do it as well as The Expert. Just saying.]**

Marshall complied and left, though without understanding why Chase had said that. **[Marshall playing Mr. Oblivious.]** Meanwhile, Rere was looking at Chase with a face sporting only amusement at his little joke.

Chase was still smiling ear to ear. "Come on," he continued, "let's see how he's doing."

* * *

They soon got the answer: not well. Marshall reported coughing, violent sneezing, a lost voice, and a temperature of 104.3°F. **[That sounds a lot worse than it is.]** He also said that The Expert was still sleeping and should not be disturbed; however, that message went unheard by the now very worried New Zealand heading dog, who had already dashed off to the sick Bernese mountain dog. **[Of course she did.]**

Marshall began to protest, but Chase prevented him by saying, "Let her go. It's perfectly fine."

Rere soon made it to her favourite pup and saw that he, in her opinion, still looked very cute; never mind unwell. She wanted to kiss him - she wanted to so badly - to let him know she was right beside him, helping him get through this problem. **[I would encourage this, but since I typed this, I don't have to. I can make it happen myself! Cue maniacal laughter.]** Eventually, she surrendered to her emotions and began to move in. But just as she decided to follow through her plan...

He awoke. **[Such bad timing.]**

She pulled back, her cheeks now experiencing a burning sensation as his eyes fully opened up and met hers. He would-have-smiled.

"Hello, Rererangi," he said, albeit hoarsely. **[He always calls her 'Rererangi' instead of Rere. This could very well be a plot point later.]** "Thanks for coming over to comfort me. I could definitely use a caring, and indeed beautiful, friend with which to have a chat." **[I've said this many times: What a Nice Guy.]** Then he sneezed and rubbed his nose.

Rererangi smiled, and giggled and blushed harder as he did his favourite thing to his favourite pup.

"What's the news from Marshall?" he then asked.

She said, "He told me you were coughing, sneezing really badly, had lost your voice and had a fever. I can't remember the exact number, though."

The Expert pondered this for a while, before sneezing. He then answered, "Was it something like 104.3°F?" **[Surprised I still am not. He is an expert, after all.]** She nodded. "Well, could you please tell Marshall that I'll be okay in about an hour? And, if he asks, tell him to come back over?"

"Sure, but why an hour? Isn't that a stretch?" she inquired. **[Rule #1 of Living With The Expert: Never, ever, under any circumstance, question his prediction ability and/or knowledge.]**

"Not at all. This cold and I know each other well." **[So is he friends with the cold? Surely, if you can befriend a criminal, you can befriend anyone or anything. Right?]** Another sneeze and a round of coughs came out of him.

Rere wasn't sure exactly what he meant, but resolved to do what he asked. As she turned to leave, she bumped into the Dalmatian EMT. Her stopped progress alerted The Expert to Marshall's presence.

"Marshall. What a pleasant surprise," came a gravelly voice belonging to The Expert. "We were just talking about you, and - aah-choo! - and how you should know that I'll be better in an hour."

Marshall was astounded by this latest revelation. "How - " was what he could muster. **[I thought we established rule #1 already.]** It wouldn't have mattered if he could have said more, for he was cut off. **[Were you expecting otherwise?]**

"Can you guess?" The Expert smirk-asked.

Marshall grinned. "'You're an expert at these things'?" **[That is the generic answer nowadays.]**

The Expert half-shrugged. "Yes. But, also because I've caught this cold strain before."

Marshall and Rere both slowly nodded in understanding, for distinctive reasons.

"Well, when you do finish recuperating, please let me know, okay?" Marshall requested. **[From where do I keep getting these plothills?]** He was answered by an assuring nod.

"Great," stated the Dalmatian as he left the scene. The ailing albino Bernese mountain dog detective curled back up into a small white ball of fur and returned to his slumber. **[It's impossible for me even to try to go to sleep in 5 minutes. I have a stupidity-plus-active-mind issue. And I don't think that there's a cure.]**

Rere was about to go, when she remembered what she was about to do before her _Ko Taku Aroha_ woke up. She turned back to him and gave him an amourous kiss on his forehead, which lasted about three seconds. She smiled bashfully and said softly, "Sweet dreams, _Ko Taku Aroha_. I love you," before leaving as well. **[What a Nice Girl.]**

* * *

An hour had passed and The Expert's sickness was indeed no more. When he came out and informed Marshall, the EMT pup grinned lopsidedly and declared, "Well, you aren't called 'The Expert' for nothing." **[But he is called The Expert for something. ... Right at the end. Must I do that every time? Also, not important, but I felt blank right here, so I decided to end it, albeit rather lazily.]**

 **All done for this one! I hope I made at least one person happy today. That's always been my motive since I came here, and I would love to continue to do so as I put up more chapters. Well, enough about me and my motives and such;**

 **Bye! Have a nice day! See you in the next chapter! Don't forget to review! Send a PM! Maybe some ideas, alright?**


	6. Marshall and Everest Part 1

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! 'Misadventures' is back after 5 days of inactivity, and I believe that someone could be made happy with this chapter that's put up. Let's hope I don't ruin it with my stupidity!**

 **DISCLAIMER: These days, people get lazy with their disclaimers. They just say 'I don't own PAW Patrol' and that's it. No offence to anyone, but just look at this: 'I own not this show, nor do I any of the characters, save the OCs and the storyline of this chapter - both of which have been invented by me - as all other cameos and locations are the belongings of the four groups with the names Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Spin Master and Viacom.' That's a disclaimer and a half.**

When The Expert had risen from his state of unconsciousness for the second time, he wanted to stay in at the Lookout to make certain that he was fine. Marshall complied again. **[I presume that he will do this for however many times he gets hurt.]**

However, Marshall was off duty the same time as The Expert, having not been selected for any missions, and the two spoke to each other often and became closer friends as a result. **[What are the chances that any one pup would not be picked for any missions over a set amount of time? Do the math. I will too, don't worry.]**

This day, The Expert was in his pup house, with the door shut. He was awake, but he could not bring himself to step outside. There was a knock on the door and he immediately said, "Come on in, Marshall."

The door opened to show the Dalmatian fire pup standing there, nervous as he had ever been before. He stated shakily, "Well, I have this little problem. **[A variant of the 'I Have This Friend...' trope. This, I shall admit, is an overused cliché and really should not be used ever.]** I wanted your help, considering that you helped, um, the others."

If The Expert was at all surprised by the fact that Marshall knew about Chase and Skye, he didn't show it. **[Which one of us was expecting him to?]** Instead, he simply stated, "What did you have in mind for telling Everest the news?"

Marshall fainted. **[Oops.]**

The Expert half-sighed and determined how long Marshall would be out cold. **[How would he do that? Does he just look at him and use visuals to find out? Or... I just broke Rule #1. Stupidity ensues again.]** _Ten minutes,_ he thought.

At that moment, Ryder and the rest of the pups returned from rescuing Chickaletta for what had to be the 29th time in that week alone. **[Sounds about right.]** Chase then noticed Marshall on the ground and The Expert near him. He immediately figured out what had happened, and walked up to The Expert to ask what he had done this time. The other pups followed behind. **[I don't know what to say here. Either they're curious as Chase, or they're just following to find out for exploitation.]**

The Expert saw them approach and knew exactly what Chase wanted to inquire of him. So when they neared him, he put up a paw to tell them to stop; they obeyed, if a little confusedly. He then sent away the other pups, except for Skye. **[Brilliant. Now it doesn't matter what their motives are.]**

When the others had left and only the three of them remained, The Expert turned to Chase and Skye, and he asked, "I assume you know about Marshall and Everest?" **[What about them? If they can sing? If they got lost once? If they have a malicious plan to make The Expert smile? ... Sorry.]**

The two other pups looked at each other questioningly. Marshall and Everest had only told Chase and Skye respectively, and not even they knew if the affection for the other was requited. But, the pup before them was known as 'The Expert' to them, and so they weren't too surprised and answered him straightforwardly. **[Rule #1 followed for the first time ever.]**

"I only know about Marshall's addiction, so to speak, but not if Everest is the same," Chase remarked as Skye said, "I don't know about Marshall, but I do about Everest."

The Expert half-shrugged. "I figured as much." **[He is The Expert, after all.]**

Chase took charge and queried, "And I assume you have a plan for this?" The Expert half-shrugged again.

"Excuse me while I go to the forest to get The Criminal for it," he said as he jumped into his pup house, transformed it into his cruiser and accelerated off to the aforementioned area. **[May I be the first to say this? ... Great! *ahem* This won't end well.]**

Chase watched as he left. He asked Skye without turning his head, "What of Everest? Do the two of them like each other?"

Skye smiled at her unofficial boyfriend and said, "Yeah, if Marshall likes her."

Chase nodded. "Then they do." **[If these characters didn't have perceptiveness, I don't know where we would be in this story.]**

"But what about The Expert? What's he going to do?"

Chase hung his head. He mumbled, under his breath but still audible enough for Skye to hear him, "If I know him, he's going to do anything he can to get them together; he would even put himself, or them, in danger." **[Dark.]**

* * *

The Expert walked into the clearing in the forest where The Criminal lived and sat down. He waited for the identical Bernese mountain dog to show up.

"What is so urgent that the great pup detective, with the name to back it up, should come to my humble clearing?" said a voice accompanying a leer. **[I wouldn't put it past The Criminal to make a joke about The Expert. He's just that kind of guy.]**

 _And there he is,_ thought The Expert. What he said was, "Are you free, or do you have plans to break the law sometime soon?" **[What a joke. Actually Pretty Funny.]**

The Criminal laughed at the flat joke. He answered, "Well, no. I don't have anything to do right now. What - "

"I want you to kidnap someone." **[Now is a good time to point out Rule #2: Expect The Expert to know what you will say.]**

The Criminal tilted his head in bewilderment. "What for?" **[At least he knows the rule.]**

"First, it's 'For what?'," The Expert countered. **[But I'm not here to be a Grammar Nazi.]** "Second, I'll ask a question: you know about Marshall and Everest, right?"

The Criminal grinned lopsidedly. "Of course. Which one to kidnap?" **[Perceptiveness is still functional. Let's hope it stays like that.]**

"Everest," the detective said. "And here's what to do. Of course, feel free to add anything else that you would like." He explained the idea to his counterpart, who grinned again. "Nothing wrong with that. I'll do it, although I might add something to it."

The Expert almost had a look of horror on his face, which The Criminal noticed. He said, "Oh, you scared me. For a second I thought you were about to make an expression."

"I won't lie; I felt one coming on." **[*melodramatic gasp* He almost made an expression?]**

* * *

Marshall had come to about a minute ago, and the first thing he had asked for was the location of The Expert. Chase had acknowledged him. "He went to the forest. For... something or other." **[Apparently, Chase is smart enough not to give The Expert's plan away. ... Sorry, Chase and Chase fans.]**

At this moment, Marshall was contemplating punishment for whoever told The Expert his secret. He was on his 27th idea when Skye shouted out his name in an attempt to get his attention. **[Marshall went through 26 ideas to punish someone fully, in one minute. Even some of the most active minds can't do that.]**

"What is it, Skye?" he responded, curious as to what she had to say.

The Cockapoo strolled over to the Dalmatian and saw that he had been in cogitation. "What were you doing?"

Marshall tried to concoct an excuse. "Just making plans," he half-lied. **[Well, it wasn't a lie. He was making plans ... to hurt someone for finding out his secret. If 'Hearts of Ice and Fire' by the writer Atlas FF is any indication, it isn't going to end at all well. P.S. Don't tell Atlas that I mentioned his story here.]**

"I hope that none involve anything to do with The Expert," Skye said seriously. Marshall was slightly taken aback.

"How - I mean, what are you talking about?" Marshall was virtually having a panic attack. **[Marshall doesn't have panic attacks. I effectively lied to you.]**

Skye just shook her head. Marshall had tried, but he had also failed. Miserably. She began to speak again. "Let me explain. First off, Chase and I got together." **[What's with everyone becoming so blunt? Is The Expert affecting them that much?]**

She had expected Marshall to break into shouts of ecstasy, congratulatory statements and also to share the news with anyone and everyone he met. What she had not expected was Marshall reacting with a face completely void of all emotion, comparable to The Expert's stoicism. **[Amazing. No one can do that every day.]**

"I know. Congratulations." **[Back to the bluntness.]**

The three words were so icy that nobody would have believed that they came from Marshall. Even Marshall himself looked surprised by his dearth of feeling. He blamed it on his jealousy; his desire to have that which his best friend had. **[For the first time in history, blame in an animated show is placed correctly the first time.]**

 _It's nice that they finally became a couple; I was starting to get impatient. Too bad Everest and I won't be like that. She'll never see me the way I see her. She's just too perfect for me. Her -_ **[Before Marshall goes full description mode, we'll cut him off now. That way we don't have to worry about a super long And boring list of stuff that he loves about Everest.]**

"Marshall, you didn't hear a thing I said!" Skye practically screamed at him, bringing Marshall back to reality.

"S-sorry, I guess I just had some thoughts." Marshall silently chastised himself for losing focus due to Everest.

"Thoughts about Everest, aren't they?" Skye asked with an extremely smug look on her face. **[Did no one here read 'Hearts of Ice and Fire'? ... Still don't tell Atlas.]**

Marshall was ready to sink into quicksand made of utter embarrassment. **[Would not a hole have been faster and/or less painful? Just asking...]** He couldn't believe that his crush was known by two pups other than whom he had told. He looked exactly how he felt.

When Skye saw him, his face saying that he wanted to be swallowed up by the ground, her self-congratulatory expression morphed into one of complete self-reprehension. She began to apologise, but a better idea came to her. **[The last time someone had a better idea, it was indeed a better idea. But, you know, can't be too careful.]**

"If it's any consolation, she likes you too."

The sentence prompted Marshall's emotions to do a full U-turn. His once crestfallen face now solely put forth joy and jubilation, and the ground that he wanted to open up and consume him was now mentally begged to keep closed. **[What if it had already opened? Would be have climbed out and then asked it to close up? ... Not here to be CinemaSins, people.]**

"Really? She does?" Skye smiled and nodded. "She does! She likes me! I'm going to go over and tell her how I feel right now!"

Marshall dashed off to his red pup house. He jumped in, turned it into the fire truck and sped off to the mountain cabin, where Everest and her owner, Jake, resided. **[If you didn't know already.]**

Skye watched as he left. She suddenly realised something and said to herself, "This will not end well." **[Ha! I was first. ... Stupid me again. Shows himself right at the end. Ah, well, can't change your stupidity! ... Who had the nerve to put that in my script? This isn't an anarchy! Society has rules, you know!]**

 **All done! With a bit of foreshadowing for good measure. I am happy. To be happy is to be alive. ... So does that mean that The Expert is dead, and is a zombie? ... Ah, well. Zombies and happiness put aside, I hope you enjoyed this chapter of 'Misadventures'; if you did, please review!**

 **Bye! Have a nice day! See you in the next chapter! Don't forget to review! Send a PM! Maybe some ideas, alright?**


	7. Marshall and Everest Part 2

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! What is with me? I've just missed more days than there are chapters in this story! Well, now I'm back, and let's jump into the seventh chapter of 'Misadventures' and the second part of 'Marshall and Everest'. Please read, enjoy (if you are able to do so), and review!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Rights not owned by me. If you want them, please do not ask me.**

Everest arose from a sudden deep slumber in a surprisingly small and dark area. She tried to look around to discover where she was, but could not find any familiar things. She began to wonder how she had gotten into this mysterious place.

Then a supremely toneless voice was heard. **[Not who you think it is.]**

"Everest."

The owner of the name jerked to attention and scoured the area for the source of the sound. She saw nothing, and so thought that it was a figment of imagination.

"Everest."

 _Well, it's not my imagination. I heard that,_ Everest thought. _But where could it be coming from?_ **[That's 'from where could it be coming'. But, hey, I'm not a fanfiction writer just to be a grammar Nazi.]**

"Everest." **[Rule of Three.]**

Everest was becoming more puzzled. And as she grew more puzzled, she grew more fearful. She wanted this nightmare of a situation to disappear and she wanted to go home.

"Everest." **[I said 'Rule of Three'! That's, ironically, rule number 3 in shows and movies.]**

The voice was directly behind her now, but she was so frightened that she dared not turn around. Visibly shaking, she closed her eyes and awaited whatever was to become of her.

"Walk." **[This guy legitimately sounds like a good/bad kidnapper.]**

Everest practically ran away from the voice, into a tunnel, and out into a larger space. This one had light, too, but that was by reason of a gigantic, unsurmountable bonfire blazing to her right. **[Plot device. Not Deus Ex Machina.]** She whipped back around and ran back the way she came, only to find the tunnel blocked.

She was trapped.

Everest was about ready to break down in tears. She slowly and solemnly sauntered straight to the space sporting the supersized firestorm. **[I aim to apply added alliterative appeal to anything.]**

As she arrived, a toneless voice rang out. **[May not be who you think it is.]**

"Crying shame, isn't it?"

Everest's blood turned to ice and her paws to stone. She stood stock still and involuntarily silently listened for the voice to speak again.

"You and I, both in this cave, trapped by this massive holocaust, with some weird guy in a black cape imitating my voice. Mostly upset about that last one." **[That's a version of the AMJ - Arson, Murder and Jaywalking - trope.]**

She looked around the area and saw a white pup in the opposite corner. The silence induced by her fear broke and she erupted in complete rage. **[Uncommon for Everest. Though that may be due to the nature of the show.]**

"Who are you?! What is your name?!" **[She might as well turn into Jack Bauer with the way she's asking these questions.]**

The pup responded, "I don't have one."

"A likely excuse. Why am I here?!"

The white pup returned, same as ever, "You've been pupnapped."

"What?! Who did this? Was it you?!" She began to vent in the pup's face. "You better tell me how I got here, who brought me here, and why I'm here. Now!" **[Yeah, she's definitely gonna turn into Jack in about two minutes.]**

The pup's face was still devoid of emotions. "Since you asked so nicely, I will."

Everest growled threateningly. "I don't want your sarcasm, I want answers."

Still no facial change. "You were pupnapped by that same weird guy. **[He just said that.]** You are here to keep me company until we are rescued."

"How do you know that we'll be rescued?"

As if on cue, a hooded figure of a pup strolled in and wordlessly dragged the white pup away.

Everest watched as the two pups _exeunted_. "Now what'll I do?" **[I don't know. Maybe make a bunch of plans for telling Marshall how you feel about him? ... So sorry.]**

* * *

The Expert and The Criminal dropped character and took a breath. **[I don't think that The Expert dropping character is much of a drop, considering stoicism.]**

"I hope Marshall gets here soon. I don't know how long I can keep this up," The Criminal whined.

The Expert reprimanded him. "You've been doing it for five minutes. I've been doing it for six months."

"I don't care. I like to laugh and smile. Not smiling is a pain to me. It's impressive that you could do it for so long."

"I'm more impressed by how you managed to keep that fire raging for ... what was it? 45 minutes?" **[Yeah, actually. A bonfire as big as the cave tunnel itself must use so much fuel it isn't funny.]**

Suddenly, a siren was heard in the distance. The Criminal grinned. He then made a strange request.

"Would you mind if I whipped you?" **[What will you use? Cat-o-nine-tails? ... Wait, what?]**

* * *

Marshall, now outside the cave, saw a great light in it. He barked out his ladder and climbed up to investigate. Indeed, the conflagration present was still burning away and his firefighter instincts took action.

The Dalmatian tried to peer through the flames, but the fire's immense size made it opaque and therefore almost impossible through which to see.

But the flicker of the inferno allowed some brief moments of visibility, and Marshall thought he saw a spot of blue-violet fur on the interior. **[I know so little about these character designs. I did research for this. I'm so stupid.]**

 _Everest?_ Marshall's heart began to race with worry and excitement. He barked, subsequently saying, "Water cannon!"

The words echoed throughout the cave.

* * *

The Criminal and The Expert were about done with their flogging session when they heard Marshall's voice. They looked at each other silently, before the smaller albino Bernese mountain dog literally threw the larger out of the chamber in which they were. **[Ouch.]**

The Expert landed face-first in front of a now enthusiastic Everest. He saw her and immediately resumed his role.

"What's going on? Has someone come to save us?"

Everest was practically bouncing with liveliness as she stated, "Yes! It's Marshall! He came for us!" Then Everest realised a little detail and became confused in favour of being excited. "But ... how - "

"The fire. It's so big that anyone will see it from outside." He still hadn't risen from his faceplant. **[You know we must have one of these in every chapter. It's a requirement now.]**

Everest stopped in her tracks and wheeled around to face her 'imprisoned' companion. She then tried to ask a question that is never completed if it is directed to The Expert.

"How - " **[We can let Rule #1 slide here, as Everest hasn't met him before. But after, we are gonna blast her for it.]**

And The Expert answered in typical The Expert fashion.

"I'm an expert at these things." **[Oh, yes. What an accurate sentence to describe that.]**

At this point, Marshall had doused the fire. The first thing that he saw was the fire damage dealt to the walls and roof of the cave. **[Did I get you?]** The next thing was Everest. Though, it was rather involuntary, as he was pinned by the husky and showered in thanks and licks to the face, thereby conveying her affection for him to him. She didn't bother to stop herself; emotions were flowing uncontrollably and she thought it futile to try to limit them.

Marshall, meanwhile, had slipped into a state of catatonia and remained almost lifeless on the floor of the cave. **[Considering that this isn't a faint, I can't say 'Oops.'. Too bad.]** The Expert, in the background of these events, simply headed to the exit, with his still bloodstained back.

Marshall escaped from his catatonia in time to see the red impact lines on the albino's back, and immediately asked if The Expert was okay.

"Just fine. This is nothing compared to what I've suffered before." **[Absolutely nothing.]**

"What is this?" thundered a voice at the back of the cave. All heads turned to see a cloaked pup.

Everest was just about to charge at him, but The Expert reached him first. The pup was quickly apprehended and taken out of the place, Marshall following. Everest decided to run back toward Jake's cabin, located on his own mountain.

* * *

As The Expert neared the station to turn over the shrouded pup, Marshall went up to him and asked, "Who is this? I want to know who captured Everest."

The disguised pup grinned and removed the hood to reveal himself.

At first, Marshall was a bit appalled that The Criminal would kidnap Everest, but then smiled pseudo-disdainfully at The Expert, who just half-shrugged and wordlessly took The Criminal in. **[Another scheme. Sometimes being smart is a thing that causes schemes like these to be created. Makes me glad that I'm stupid. But then, I wrote this, so...]**

As they left, Marshall shook his head. "A crazy and dangerous plan to get me and Everest together. Somehow, that sounds just like them."

Meanwhile, Everest - who had made it back to Jake's Mountain - was pondering the past events. _Who was that white pup?_ she thought. **[The most dangerously smart pup ever to grace the Earth. Nothing more to be said.]** She eventually decided to pay him a visit. Marshall seemed to know him, so she would ask her Marshall.

 _My Marshall..._ Something she wanted to be able to call him; now she had her chance. **[How nice. We'll have that sorted next chapter.]**

 **And we are done! My hiatus syndrome is gone for now, so I'll probably be back with more stuff and stupidity soon. I hope you enjoyed this chapter; if you did, be sure to leave a review, please.**

 **Bye! Have a nice day! See you in the next chapter! Don't forget to review! Send a PM! Maybe some ideas, alright?**


	8. Marshall and Everest Finale

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! Yeah, this one took way too long, and I really have no excuse for why. As you should have been able to tell, this is the last part of Marshall and Everest, which will wrap up this little subseries so that we can move on to some more of The Expert being The Expert and getting himself in all sorts of things. Anywho, please REAR (Read, Enjoy And Review)!**

 **DISCLAIMER: What are rights to this show? Something that I don't have and probably never will.**

"What happened this time?" Chase queried when he saw the untraditional red fur on The Expert's back. "Did you do anything crazy today without any of us knowing?" **[However did you guess?]**

The Expert smirk-asked, "Would you consider me being trapped in a cave by a raging bonfire and being scourged with a cat-o-nine-tails by a pupnapper in a black hood who was imitating me, 'crazy'?" **[Yes, I would. But the whole point of your mission was to do something crazy, so, excused.]**

Chase thought about this and decided to say, "By your standards, that's pretty normal. **[By absolutely no one's standards is that normal.]** I mean, remember our last mission together? You stalled the guy with the gun to your face..."

Chase recollected the past mission with a bit of enthusiasm. As this was happening, Everest was approaching them from behind. She recognised, by the stained fur, the pup who had been 'pupnapped' with her. She jumped out of her snowcat and plodded toward them, having heard a sort of conversation between him and another pup who appeared to be Chase. **['Who appeared to be Chase.'. There is literally one German Shepherd in the show's universe, and in this one too. Who else could it possibly have been?]**

When she was behind The Expert, she picked up more details of the convo, but it didn't make much sense. She decided to query.

"What - " She was, as you would have thought, interrupted by The Expert, who hadn't turned around. **[Are we surprised? I'm not. You're not. So answer is no. Not surprising either.]**

"We were just talking about the last mission in which I took part."

She was taken by surprise. "Wait. Are you - "

"Yes." **[Two in a row? That's a bit interesting.]**

She became more befuddled. "How - "

"I'm an expert at these things." **[And now he's just showing off.]**

Everest was now a little riled up. "You know - "

"Sure, it does get a bit annoying. Right, Chase?" He turned around as he spoke. **[I mean, seriously. What motivated him to do this to Everest? No one else has been subject to this restriction of speech.]**

"Yes it does," Chase answered as the husky became more exasperated.

"And what is the annoyed husky here to do?" The Expert smirk-asked. **[I'm going to leave a comment here, but I'm not going to say anything. Why? The Expert. That is why.]**

Everest responded with as little chagrin as possible. "I just wanted to know who you are, who my pupnapper is and where I can find Marshall."

"I see. Well, I have no name, but The Expert is what I am called. Now you've met me, but since I already know you, you don't need to introduce yourself. Your pupnapper is basically a smiling version of me, and his nickname - since he has no name either - is The Criminal." **[Candid. Typical. Still awesome.]**

Everest huffed. "Makes sense."

"And as for Marshall," Chase jumped in, "he's in his pup house."

"Thanks, Chase." And with that, Everest ran off to talk to Marshall. **[See you later. ... I'm not joking. We will see her later in the chapter.]**

The Expert turned back to the police German Shepherd pup. "I'm going to sleep. Such an adrenaline-inciting situation really tires one out." He then strolled over to his white house and quickly fell asleep. **[This guy loves to sleep, doesn't he?]**

Chase watched as he did this. "I bet someone made a comment somewhere on how much this guy likes to sleep." **[Why have you lampshaded my lampshade? That's cheating, Chase. You can't do that.]**

* * *

Marshall, meanwhile, was replaying the past events in his mind, spending the most time remembering the part where Everest had pounced upon him and showered him with licks. _Did that really happen?_ he asked himself. **[Nope, because you didn't save her from a raging inferno in the last chapter.]**

Of a sudden, there was a pounding sound coming from the door. He opened it to see his favourite husky standing there. **[But... Marshall, you only know one. I suppose that counts, but still.]**

"Oh, hi, Everest." Marshall was a little bit surprised to see her there.

"Hey, Marshall."

"What brings you here? After being kidnapped, no less," Marshall questioned. Everest heaved a massive sigh. **[*sigh* That is me relieved that we are finally at the part for which we've been waiting.]**

"I came by to, um, tell you something that I think you should know."

"Is that so?" Marshall looked at her in a way that suggested that he already knew what it was. **[He does, so he is allowed to use that look. If he didn't, I'd just have The Expert do it.]** "Well, so do I."

"You want to tell me first?" Everest asked, still rather nervous about the whole prospect.

"Yeah." Marshall took a big breath to compose himself. "Whatever you were to say to me, such is what I am to tell thee. If it was that I mean the world to you, of me concerning you it is still true. Were you say that you adore me indeed, the thought is reciprocated tenfold by me. And so the point that I sincerely hope I've clearly made, is that if you shall love me, I shall you the same. I love you, Everest." **[Poem by Marshall. Also, for how long did he prepare that poem? And given that it is to be used in very specific circumstances, how many of these poems did he have?]**

Everest was at a loss for words. To hear such heartfelt words being poured to her from the pup whom she positively cherished was both a miracle and a dream made a reality to her.

She hugged the Dalmatian very tightly and said through oncoming tears, "I love you, Marshall." **[I'm going to do something very CinemaSins-esque. *ahem* Roll credits!]**

Marshall, despite being in a lung-crushing position, could not have felt more as though his heart would jump out of its place. He returned the embrace and felt the water running down his face.

Neither wanted this moment to end. **[Too bad it will, for I have the power to separate you forever! Muhahahahahaaaa! ... Sorry. Won't happen.]**

 **And we're all good. Now I don't ever have to do any of this again, unless wanted. This was far too tiring to complete, and I am now very happy that I've finished. I hope that you EAR!**

 **Bye! Have a nice day! See you in the next chapter! Don't forget to review! Send a PM! Maybe some ideas, alright?**


	9. Final Introductions

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! 'Misadventures' has returned to you today and it's gonna be really good. By the way, I told our commentator that he was rehired, and you would not believe his excitement. He literally bounced around for about an hour after I told him! But anyway, you know the drill; please REAR!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Who asks anyone what rights they own? I'm sure, via publicity, that every rights-owning organisation has made it very clear that they own the rights. And I'm not one of them.**

The week after, everything had returned to normal. The PAW Patrol were completing missions, The Criminal was doing his criminal stuff, The Expert was stopping The Criminal and predicting speech as usual, and Rererangi was ensuring that The Expert didn't get hurt by anyone or anything. **[So glad to be back! ... Hmm. Sounds very normal. Especially that last part.]**

Before this normal week, though, Rere was introduced to The Criminal, in a bit of a strange way indeed.

* * *

The Expert was sleeping in his pup house. He didn't bother to wake up early on this day, uncharacteristically. And this worried everyone. **[Would you be worried if someone who normally wakes up early slept in? I wouldn't.]**

"What in the universe is happening that The Expert isn't awake?" Chase queried disbelievingly. **[Normality, Chase. Normality is happening.]**

"I'm sure something is wrong here," Rocky mused unamusedly.

"What if he's sick and not gonna get better?" asked Rubble. **[Who everyone hates.]**

"Mi amigo..." Tracker, who had been called over, almost lamented. **[Not at a funeral, people! Quit your mourning!]**

At this time, who should appear but the pup with an incurable case of kleptomania. He took a look at The Expert and immediately formulated a fun way to mess with one of the pups. **[Messing with others is a great way to make friends. ... And enemies, too.]**

"Now I just need to pick the right one..." The Criminal muttered, before he got the perfect candidate. The best part was, she didn't know him yet. "Perfect." **[This is not gonna end well ... for him.]**

* * *

A few hours later, Rererangi came skipping happily up to see _Ko Taku Aroha._ And everybody else too. **[Yeah... totally came to see everybody else too. Mmhmm. Right.]** She stopped in front of The Expert's house - which still wasn't put into the rotating floor panel - and saw the habitant sound asleep. This largely surprised her; the only time she saw him sleep in this late was when he was sick. And he didn't seem sick now, so what was going on? **[Normalityyyy...]**

Presently, as she approached him, he stood up and greeted her without so much as a yawn. **[Wow. But then, that 'wow' becomes negated because The Expert.]**

"Oh, uh, hey, _Ko Taku Aroha._ I didn't know you were up."

"I wasn't. In fact..."

The Criminal was listening to this conversation. His plan was simple: silently replicate The Expert's movements simply to confuse the girl. Then, when the time was right, he would reveal himself as The Expert and further bewilder her. **[You forget that you're trying to fool Rererangi with that? The one who spends the better part of a day with the pup you're trying to impersonate? Plothole. That's not gonna work. Maybe the first part, but most definitely not the second. Nope. Nuh-uh. Absolutely not. No way. No how. No sir. Ain't no way. _Nein. Non. Nej._ ... I ran out of synonyms and languages...]** He made his move.

"... I really was quite tired from that last incident," The Expert stated, The Criminal emerging and mouthing the words in sync, before disappearing behind the house again.

Rere saw the duplicate of The Expert appear and disappear, and tilted her head as she tried to process the logic in her mind. She blinked, wondering if the second pup was just a figment of imagination. She didn't see anyone else, so she assumed that she had dreamt it up. **[Yeah - first part. Still not the second. Not at all.]**

"Rererangi, is something wrong?" The Expert asked.

Rere hesitated, before shaking her head. "Thought I saw something."

"Okay, but if you did really see something, you know you can tell me." The Criminal mouthed these words too, leading to more perplexity. **[Okay ... why he'd do it again and risk being caught is a mystery to me.]**

"Yeah..." Rere said, "and I just saw it again. I feel like I'm seeing double." **[But it worked.]**

"Seeing double..." The Expert had only to think for a nanosecond to figure out what was going on. **[Just the fact that he had to think shocks me.]**

"Yes. What - "

"I know what it is, but first I need to go inside the Lookout for something." With that, The Expert _exeunted_. **[ _Exeunt._ Latin stage direction. Means that a character or characters leave(s) the stage. Can also be used to signify a character/characters in a story/fanfic leave(s) a specific scene. Hope that made sense.]**

The Criminal decided to put the second phase of his plan into action. He took a wide path to avoid being seen and, in the Lookout, saw a deck of playing cards. He picked them up and headed back to Rere. He put on his best 'The Expert' face to convince her further. **[Not gonna work...!]**

"Now - to have some real fun."

* * *

Rere was patiently awaiting The Expert when she saw something coming toward her. It was a white pup, extremely similar to The Expert; naturally, Rere assumed that it was him. However, upon closer inspection, she saw a few differences: there was no collar, he appeared shorter in stature and had red eyes instead of the peaceful yet piercing blue to which she was accustomed. **[I told you... You must listen when I talk.]** As this pup approached her, she decided to give him a fair warning never to impersonate her _Ko Taku Aroha._ Meanwhile The Criminal, not suspecting anything to be wrong, approached the albino New Zealand heading dog.

Before either could say a word, The Expert, fairly literally, appeared behind The Criminal. "Hello, friend."

Both unsuspecting, Rere and The Criminal nearly jumped out of their fur at the sudden voice. **[If that were possible.]**

"Were you going to try to imitate me? You know how that ends up; only I can be me." **[Did I say not to do this? I want to believe I did, because then I can say 'Ha! Told you.'.]**

"For obvious reasons," The Criminal said under his whiskers. **[What?! Do you know how quietly you have to speak to say something under someone's whiskers?!]**

"Hello, _Ko Taku Aroha_! What did you go for?" Rere asked as though The Criminal wasn't there. **[Complete ignore-ance. Not ignorance, as in stupidity, the thing I have bucketloads of; ignore-ance, as in the act of ignoring. Get it? Got it? Good.]**

"I went for my cards, but someone took them," was the stoic reply, The Expert staring at his lookalike.

 _You have cards?_ Rere thought almost incredulously. **[Yeah - I'm gonna go against rule #1 here. ... How?! Does this guy have everything in his possession?! ... Probably not.]**

"Yes, I have cards," The Expert said, seemingly having read her mind through her face. "Oh; I advise you to look more carefully at us."

It was then that Rere actually realised the situation. **[That's slow for you, Rererangi. Pick up the pace, girl!]** "Wait - what's going on here? Who are you?" she asked The Criminal.

"I actually don't have a name, much like someone very familiar." The Expert just half-shrugged. "My friends call me 'The Criminal'."

"'The Criminal' has friends?" Rere looked at The Expert bewilderedly. "I didn't know criminals could have friends." **[That's acts-...ist ... I think that's what it is.]**

"Shock; she says we can't, yet here we are conversing like friends."

"Now that I think about it, it's weird you two look so alike, but are also polar opposites," Rere mused. "By the way, are you two brothers?" **[Ye - no, no they're not.]**

"No." The Bernese mountain dogs spoke at exactly the same time, eliciting laughs from the New Zealand heading dog. **[I'm falling asleep ... Hahahaha...]**

"You could have fooled anyone," she giggled. "So what about cards now? Why did you go for them?"

"I would have caught him with them." The Expert leaned in toward her and continued: "He can't stay away from them." **[Future plot point. Not joking. This is total foreshadowing.]**

"What would he want with them?"

"I - " The Criminal started interrupting, but was stopped. **[Stops an interruption with an interruption. Inception...]**

"We ... do card magic," The Expert corrected.

"Oh, of course. How could I possibly have underestimated your infinite repertoire?" was the next sentence, stated in total and perfect deadpan. **[Snaaaaark!]**

"Could you show me a couple tricks?" Rere asked pleadingly.

"Sure." The Criminal began the act. "The thing about card tricks is that they have to be performed..."

"...exquisitely," The Expert joined in.

The Criminal coughed. "Hold these," he said as he gave the cards to Rere. "I have something in my throat - let me get it out." He brought up what sounded like mucus and spit it out. Except... **[Wild guess!]**

"Cards... you just coughed up cards..." Rere was speechless for a couple of seconds. "That's sooo cool!" **[Excitement ensues.]**

"We're just starting. On to the next trick," The Expert said. **[Too bad we don't see them...]**

 **Finish! How was this chapter after the wait? I would like to hear - uh, see your thoughts in the review section, not to say that you have to tell - show, me; but still, would be appreciated! And I'll shut my mouth - why do I keep making sound analogies? They don't work! Yeah - I'll just stop now.**

 **Bye! Have a nice day! See you in the next chapter! Don't forget to review! Send a PM! Maybe some ideas, alright?**


	10. What Just Happened? (Super-chapter)

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! This, being the tenth chapter of 'Misadventures', will be a super-chapter. In these supers, I will simply review everything, along with a bit of background details, that happened in both of the stories in a bit of a conversation between the pups. And of course, I have to give you the stats for this story, which are: 628 views, 20 reviews, 2 faves, 1 follow, 15 stupidity moments, 17 instances of speech prediction, 6 plothills and 2 plotholes. And now, story time!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I feel like I and many others have made disclaimers saying that we don't own rights to this show, yet something tells us to reiterate and give people information that was known before. Hmm.**

Ryder was away on a trip - he didn't specify for what - and the pups took the opportunity to have a reunion with their two friends which were not their teammates. As you've guessed, Rererangi and The Criminal. **[Somehow, that sounds exactly like me.]** And as The Expert knew them both well, he was sent to invite them.

Finding Rere was not a problem. She always seemed to be near The Expert, which some might find strange; upon being invited, she unhesitantly agreed to be able to see the others. **[I feel the need to speak and say something stupid. Sadly, I can't. Because I am stupid. Ironic.]**

The Criminal was a slightly more difficult process. The felon pup was indeed in his usual spot, but needed a bit of convincing to go with his double.

"Why do you want me to go with you? I don't think the others would be too happy to see me," The Criminal said sceptically. **[The master bad guy is afraid of going to the good guys, because he's sure that some good guy will kick him out and the other good guys will laugh. That's weird, guy.]**

"Consider the fact that I have come here asking you to visit us," countered The Expert.

The Criminal pondered this and saw the light. "Alright. I'll go see you." **[Just him? Or is that a collective you? Be specific! Or make me less stupid, that is an option as well.]**

The Expert nodded.

"But... can I wear my kidnapper hood?" **[*sigh*]**

The Expert said nothing. His face retained the nothingness it sported earlier, but his chagrin was evident. **[Somehow, this is exactly my face right now.]**

The Criminal laughed and continued, "Just messing with you. Go on, I'll be there in a while."

The taller of the Bernese mountain dogs then departed.

By a strange telepathic connection between them, they thought the same thing at the same time: "He could very well be my brother and I wouldn't know." **[Foreshadowing?]**

* * *

The rest of the Patrol, sans Tracker, was waiting for the two nameless pups to arrive, as Rere had already turned up at the Lookout. In total, there were eight pups, soon to be ten as the identical Bernese mountain dogs sauntered into view. **[You might have already done the maths and I would not have needed to tell you the answer.]** One was apparently snickering at something that the other had said; as such the expectant pups were sure of who was who. **[Logic is as functional as perceptiveness.]**

Upon showing up, The Criminal saw everyone present and became a little nervous; Chase was present, as was Everest, two pups who he thought would jump at the first opportunity to, shall we say, withdraw him from the area. **[That's putting it lightly. I'm dead serious; I had so many dark options for this section, it wasn't close to funny. You will not see any of these options, though, so that was entirely useless for me to say. Stupid, stupid, stupid.]** He was in the act of retreating, but The Expert pulled him on; without looking at him, no less.

The Criminal whispered to his double, "I'm not doing this!"

The Expert, still not caring to face The Criminal, responded, "Would have been worse had you worn that costume. You'd not even be able to visit here." **[That's a notable point. Good thing you didn't, eh?]**

"Why is my pupnapper here?" asked Everest dangerously calmly, as though upon an indication. The Criminal felt himself shrink to half his size. **[Well, then.]**

"Well, then." **[You know I just said that!]**

"Don't worry, Everest," assured Marshall. "He's just a friend. A friend who does very questionable things upon being prompted." He glared tranquilly at The Expert, who half-shrugged as The Criminal grew back to his normal size. **[That half-shrug is probably his standard response to anything.]**

"Right. I'm not here to play the villain here. **[The Department of Redundancy Department, possibly the least known and yet funniest department ever created.]** We just want to ... what are we doing?"

Chase stepped in. "We just wanted to have a nice conversation to get to know our newest friends better."

"Wouldn't Truth or Dare work better for such a time as this?" **[Yeah, but ... I'll let Rocky say it.]**

Rocky jumped in. "I once read a story that if we were to do that, Chase will have to call his parents and say that he's gay."

Chase about exploded with a hundred thousand ways that that would be ridiculous and that he was never doing that. Skye next to him simply giggled.

Rocky continued. "And Zuma is his husband-to-be." **[This fanfic is real. All rights reserved to the author.]**

"Yeah, we awe nevew doing that. I'm not gay eithew."

"So we're doing Truth or Dare?" The Criminal just wanted to see their faces.

What he saw were sixteen eyes, filled to the zenith with sheer irritation, looking back at him. **[Well, there you go, The Criminal. You saw their faces. They are very clearly upset. Are you satisfied?]**

"Kidding. Just kidding. Don't kill me, please." **[Says the person to be first suspected of a murder.]**

The Expert changed the subject as Rere moved and sat next to him. "Does anyone have a question for any of us?"

Everest started. "Why don't you ever smile?" **[No! Please don't!]**

The question was met by several 'No's and 'Please don't's from the rest of the PAW Patrol. **[Isn't that what I said?]**

"It's long and very sad. Are you sure you're not going to cry?"

"I lived alone for months in the freezing cold. I'm sure," she said confidently as everyone dashed off to avoid hearing anything. **[Tempting Fate. Also known as Should Have Stayed Quiet, You Had To Ask and Why Did I Say That?.]**

Minutes later, the tough husky was unable to keep up her unaffected expression and shed quite a few tears. **[She's definitely not The Expert. If you told The Expert the saddest story ever, he'd not even twitch a muscle. Guaranteed or your money back.]**

At the end of the tale, she ran into the bathroom as the other pups returned.

The Criminal smiled irkedly and said, "Oh, let's guess what happened." **[I'm sure we've all gotten tired of guessing games by now. Don't bring it back.]**

"Don't rub it in!" Everest shouted from the bathroom.

"We warned you!" Skye yelled back. **[In all fairness, they did; even I did. That was her own fault.]**

"Next?" The Expert asked.

Chase volunteered. "What's the most valuable thing that you stole, The Criminal?"

"Easy. Someone else's lunch." **[No regard for someone else's lunch?]**

All looked at him questioningly.

"What? You need food to live." **[Yeah, but take that away and it's not that valuable. It's short-lived and chances are you'd have eaten it in ten seconds.]**

Chase sighed. "I meant, what was the most valuable non-food item that you stole?"

The Criminal understood and answered, "Probably The Expert's secret stash of arrested criminal belongings. There were three diamonds in it!" **[I'm a little surprised that somehow The Expert was able to hoard those stuffs and nobody cared except for The Criminal, from whom he probably confiscated them in the first place.]**

"Since when - ?" Rere began to ask.

"Since that guy started to steal from other criminals," The Expert answered. **[The Expert must get at least one instance of speech prediction. It's a requirement now. Also, wait. The Criminal stole stuff from his fellow thieves? He is good. ... And a backstabber.]**

The group was slightly taken aback by the fact that The Criminal was able to rob other criminals. **[So was I. I just established that.]**

Rocky was next to question as Everest returned, having recovered. "What," he asked to Rere, "is your relationship to him?" He pointed at The Expert. **[Well, it's over now. Spilled secrets have joined the convo.]**

Rere was almost petrified. "W-why do you ask?" She tried her absolute best to keep an unaltered face.

Rocky tilted his head. "You're leaning on his shoulder."

Rere looked and, to her absolute mortification, saw that she had subconsciously rested her head against The Expert's side. **[I've never known anyone who could do that. Therefore, this segment will fall into the 'Impossible Behavioural Things' category. Like getting mad at yourself unknowingly. Remember that?]** She tried to sit up in a hurry, but The Expert held her where she was.

"Don't worry, Rererangi. No one will laugh at you." **[You... won't, laugh at her, right?]** He suddenly turned his gaze from her to the rest of the pups, who got the message and returned to him upset looks.

"Okay... I'm in love with him. He always had my heart since I saw him, and that feeling only grew as I got to know him more. I - I don't know what I'd do if something happened to him. He's just too perfect for anything bad to happen to him, in my eyes. He's _ko taku aroha_. **[Guess she has the 'The Expert's bluntness' trait as well. Also, I pay no attention to this part because that's my job.]**

All except The Criminal listened to the confession awestruck. Sure, Marshall and Chase knew already, but to have it confirmed in such blunt fashion was a bit surprising. What wasn't surprising was the fact that The Expert's face hadn't shifted at all. **[If that wasn't surprising, then her blunt confession shouldn't be either. Didn't I say something like 'She was always around The Expert'? Of course she can be blunt. ... I'm using blunt way too often now.]**

After recovering from the induced catatonic state, Rocky continued his questioning: "When did you realise that you did?" **[Probably the day she met him. That's everybody else's method of doing this.]**

"Well - how long ago was it? ... Ah, yeah, right. Um... about six months ago. I remember seeing him leaving that fateful casino after his father died... he looked so sad after the fact, my heart felt I should go up to him and console him. **[Then... don't you think that's what you should have done? Heart gets you into trouble, head is your friend, yet head makes you talk to yourself, so trust heart and take the trouble.]** That's when I realised that my legs chose to obey my head that was saying 'Stay where you are; he won't want to listen to you', in favour of obeying my heart that was telling me 'Go and comfort him; he'll be an eternal friend'. I pondered why that was the case, until I came to the conclusion that I didn't want him to be just 'an eternal friend'; I wanted him to be something more. And that's the very time I discovered my love for him... my eternal love for him..." She nearly started crying. **[Don't cry. That makes us here at My Thoughts and Opinions sad. And we don't do sad. Unless it's The Expert.]** "Since then, I've looked for ways to tell him about it, but I never got through until... you know when." **[For those of you who are unaware, it was when The Expert got his left flank ripped open by a serrated knifepoint. Yes, blood and gore. Very cool.]**

"I love him... I love him... I love him..." She trailed off quietly. **[I would be glad it you didn't continue saying that over and over. Very glad.]**

The Expert hugged her and said softly, "I love you too, Rererangi." **[In monotone. Huh. I actually never thought of how that would sound.]**

The group watched as they discarded all thoughts of the real world around them and focused solely on each other; they entered the clouds. **[I know that place. I used to have connections with people in it. Don't believe it's changed. Probably looks and sounds the same.]** Meanwhile, The Criminal was practically asleep where he was. He mumbled something along the lines of 'Tastes like diabetes'. **[How does diabetes taste? Does it taste sweet? Is it filling or satiating? Where is it sold? What's the price? And most importantly, why on earth and sky am I asking so many questions?]**

Zuma shouted at him. "Hey, Cwiminal, wake up! I wanna ask you something!"

The Criminal didn't flinch or open his eyes. "It's THE Cwiminal to you. **[#TheHackerOfCyberchase. Also, mocking Zuma for no reason.]** Spell my name with a 'The'."

Zuma rolled his eyes. "Alwight, 'The' Cwiminal, why did you come to Adventuwe Bay?"

The Criminal just shrugged. "I wanted to see my doppelgänger after all that time without seeing him. He's a friend." **[** **LIES! I made you a thing, so I know when you're lying, you lying liar.]**

Zuma didn't buy it. "You'we a felon and he's a detective. How would you be fwiends with youw complete opposite? How could you be fwiends with youw complete opposite?" **[That part of the convo could have ended at sentence one.]**

"I do the criminal stuff, he takes me to jail, I escape; wash, rinse and repeat. This way, neither of us gets bored from having nothing to do." **[What happens when one of these is thrown out of balance? Do the Pride Lands collapse and turn into a wasteland with nothing for the pride to eat? And did I just say that?]**

"Still doesn't say why you'we fwiends," Zuma said under his breath.

The Expert and Rere returned to the real world, just in time for Chase to ask the male, "How did you know what I did that one night after we came back from our first big mission?" **[I dislike speaking in the 'Iron my dog' manner. It makes things worse when someone challenges your ironing skills.]**

Rubble, being just a little bit too curious, inquired to know what he had done. **[See?]** Chase's disquiet grew exponentially and he was torn between revealing what he had done and answering the honest question put forth. Luckily, his decision was made for him.

"He kissed me." **[Why is candidness suddenly so common? Has The Expert rubbed off on everyone?]**

Everyone (except Chase and The Expert) whirled around to face the speaker. It was Skye.

"I was worried about him and I talked to him that night, and when I was done - "

"I couldn't resist the urge to do it," Chase finished. He waited to be made fun of by the others, but to the surprise and the solace of his dignity, no one paid much attention to the admittedly shocking revelation, as they turned to The Expert for his answer. **[On the topic of 'admittedly', does anyone else find it slightly annoying when autocorrect puts 'admittedly' in the place of 'immediately'? Or is that just me?]**

"Do you want the long version or the short one?" **[Long. This will give me more stuff to put in.]**

As usual, the quick and unanimous answer was, "Short." **[...Really? Come on, guys. I need words!]**

"I'm an expert at these things." **[Of course.]**

 _Why didn't I see that coming?_ Chase thought as he shook his head. **[I don't know, you tell me.]**

Marshall had a question as well. "I've never understood how you two have no name. Care to explain for us?" **[Very good question. Coincidentally, this might be what some of you were thinking.]**

The Expert nodded as acknowledgement of the honest inquiry and began his side. "I lost mine when my father, who named me, died. When my will to smile left, my name seemed to disappear with it. I guess it's because I wanted to get any memory of him out of my head at that time. I don't even remember what it is now."

The Criminal then began his tale. "I just never had one. My parents were never able to give me one, since they both died before they had the opportunity. Had they survived, I would have had a name, thereby negating this small speech." **[I don't know which is sadder, honestly. Don't tell me what you think, okay?]**

Rubble asked his first ask after. "Why are you called The Expert? You promised to tell us; tell us! **[True, he did. But you promised to have at least three fanfics made about you and that hasn't been done yet. Where's that?]**

"Well," The Expert said before exhaling, "you know that Chase and Skye are together." Everyone nodded. "My nickname originated from getting them together.

"You all - except for you, Everest," he remarked whilst looking at the husky, "should then remember that when I came, I whispered something to Chase and he fainted. Then he took me into the Lookout to talk to me. That's where I explained to him how I knew about his love for Skye. The arc words? 'I'm an expert at these things.'." **[And scene. Since the question has been answered, I don't have to type any more.]**

Everest said under her breath, "I know where this is going."

Skye carried on. **[Okay, whose brilliant idea was it to extend this part past what I said? ... Oh? Mine? Well, continue on, then.]** "Then, he came to me and did about the same thing. I remember how upset and angry I was when he revealed that he knew that I liked Chase, but I calmed down and he told me to go and talk to Chase. He also said, 'I'm an expert at these things.' when he told me." **[Having said what I said, though, it really should not go past this.]**

Chase jumped in now. **[Oh, my goodness. What did I just say?! Doesn't anyone listen to me?!]** "And then, when she came to me and confessed, I fainted. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it; that's exactly what happened. When I came to, I asked if she meant it - she said yes - and then I told her about my, um, intimacy. That's when she fainted." **[See? Useless information. Like the kind I give out on a chapterly basis.]**

The Expert continued with the story from here. "Then we were called to the Lookout for a mission. Details are unnecessary. I was welcomed into the team - mostly out of pity, I suppose - and I offered to sport a nickname. Skye remembered what I had said to her and based my nickname off of it. That's what happened." **[I almost expect someone else to jump in and give more unneeded information.]**

Silence followed, until Rocky piped up and stated, "I don't think all the details given were quite necessary." **[Lampshading the entirety of that story.]**

"Well, if you just put together my parts, that's all I would have said," The Expert remarked. He looked at Chase and Skye, and they both returned him faces which asked, "What?" **[This chapter would have come out sooner had you not opened your mouths. That's what.]**

"Well, that's all. What does everyone want to do now?" The Expert then questioned generously. Everyone took up the offer to do something else with each other, and The Expert decided to take a nap. He may be a stoic, but he still gets tired. **[That sounds like something I would say, doesn't it? Don't be trying to steal my job again...]**

Rere followed him inside the pure white pup house and lay down next to him. Although she didn't have the intention of falling asleep, she wanted to be near her favourite pup. **[There should be something that I have to say here, but I'm stupid and I forgot it.]** She sank into his long fur and felt a sense of warmth wash over her. The Expert, while asleep, put his left paw around her and she certainly didn't mind the gesture. **[Okay. I don't know what to say here, and I didn't forget what to say; I legitimately don't have anything of which to speak. Have a pleasant day.]**

"Sweet dreams, _Ko Taku Aroha_ _;_ I love you," she whispered to the sleeping Bernese mountain dog whilst nuzzling the underside of his muzzle. **[How many times will she establish what is already known? ... Go ahead and call me a hypocrite. I know I do that too.]**

Eventually the position in which she was and the feel of The Expert's body against hers forced her to succumb to sleep as well. Coincidentally, The Criminal passed by and saw the two of them. He smiled.

"I'm going to have to find me a girl too. That way, this'll be me next time." **[Oh great. Now I have to make another OC and refrain from making her an albino too. Probably not gonna happen, is my guess.]**

 **Our first super-chapter here in 'Misadventures' is now done. I might not have covered** **everything that happened before this, but frankly that would have taken literally more forevers than this version took to do. And besides, more adventures ahead mean more talks like this and more supers with more questions and more of their answers. ... Wow, what a mouthful. So, again, I hope that you have found this update enjoyable and I hope to see you here for more.**

 **Bye! Have a nice day! See you in the next chapter! Don't forget to review! Send a PM! Maybe some ideas, alright?**


	11. Gone

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! Yeah, hi. I'm back, and I'm a little sad, so I'm gonna let it out in this chapter. Expect sadness to be present, m'kay? Anyway, REAR? REARs are the bread and butter of writers like us, so please don't let me starve.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Don't own rights. Bye.**

"Set me free ... from my jealousy - won't you exorcise my mind, won't you exorcise my mind - I want to be free ... as I'll ever be ... exorcise my mind, help me exorcise my mind..." **[This is what I listen to when I want to be sad. Seriously. Also, please do not try to guess what this song is called. There's Google for a reason.]**

The song's melancholy vibes floated around the Lookout, and everyone wondered from where it was coming. **[So, everyone can hear this song from anywhere in or around the Lookout? Or do the vibes carry the feeling of the song and the sound with it? I'm utterly confused. Ignore me as I try to figure this out.]**

It was actually coming from The Expert, of all pups. **[Hmm. Not really that new when you think about it. Chapter 2.]** The others were shocked; the albino wasn't known for lachrymosity. They all began to create theories on what the song could mean.

"Maybe ... " **[No.]**

"Do you guys think ... " **[I don't think so.]**

Eventually, they all grew tired of guessing and decided to find the real reason. They all marched up to the source of the still ongoing song: The Expert's pup house. **[Well, where else would it be?]**

"Close these green eyes ... and watch over as I sleep..." **[Your eyes are blue.]**

"The Expert," Chase tried.

"Yes, Chase?" The Expert returned as the song stopped. "Before you ask me anything, let me finish what I'm doing..." He trailed off as he continued writing something. **[Begs the question: how do dogs have the capabilities to write? Please ignore that little hitch.]** When he was done, he looked up at the pups. "Go." **[Should really be more specific...]**

Upon that word, all began to talk at the same time ask the same question, at different speeds, in different ways. **[Oh boy.]** It seemed as though no one would be able to decipher the message behind the shouting. But, The Expert does what he is an expert at doing and somehow came up with a response. **[Because The Expert.]**

"I was singing because - oh, forget it. Just tell Rererangi, whenever she gets here, that I am gone." And he arose and left the house. **[When I'm gone, when I'm gone...]**

"Gone where?" Rubble asked.

"Gone." And he disappeared from view. **[I feel that this will spell some disaster.]**

Rererangi did arrive at the Lookout several minutes later and, as per usual, inquired about The Expert's whereabouts.

"He's gone," Skye said.

"What? Gone where?" Rere couldn't believe that The Expert had left. **[I had some seriously bad "déj** **à vu, déjà fait" here. Not important, but whatever.]**

"Gone. That's all he said." **[At least the message was conveyed correctly. This time.]**

"And you just let him leave?!" **[Yes. Why do you think that he's not here?]**

"How were we supposed to know that he wouldn't come back?"

"Girls, stop." The authoritarian voice of Chase stopped the ensuing battle. "What do you suggest we do, Rere?"

"Look for him." **[Can't tell if this is a plothill or plothole.]**

"Skye?"

"I think we should wait. We don't know if he's just doing something secret for us, you know?" **[This, though, is a plothill.]**

There was silence for a few seconds, before Chase concluded, "I'm not trying to be biased, but I do believe that Skye's idea is a little more sound." Rere thought for a couple seconds more before ultimately agreeing.

Presently The Criminal walked in with a beaming smile and greeted the pups. "Where's The Expert?" **[Does that look familiar?]**

"Gone," Rere answered him, erasing that huge grin he had been sporting. "And before you ask, we don't know where he is." **[Speech prediction?]**

"And I knew nothing about this?" **[Correct, because we don't like you.]**

"You weren't here to know about this," stated a deadpan Rocky. **[Well, then. The Expert must really have a powerful influence to make them act like him when he isn't present.]**

 _Funny how everyone's acting like him now,_ thought the present albino BMD. _Guess that's what happens when you hang around him a lot._ **[But that's what I mentioned...! Hmph.]**

"Suddenly we're all acting like him. Makes me miss him more," continued Rocky.

 _I just thought that..._ **[Karma! kek]**

"Wait a minute," Chase suddenly jumped in, "before he left, he wrote something for you, Rere. It's in the house - check it - ... and see if you can uncover anything." He only finished after Rere disappeared off.

* * *

Rere had no trouble finding that paper and wasted no time opening it. She read the contents and immediately broke down in tears. **[Oh no.]**

"I knew that was a bad idea..." **[Bad, bad, really big and bad, this is bad and big bad, this is a big, bad mess...]**

 **What do you think's happened? Keep any predictions in mind or on paper and I'll reveal in the next.**

 **Also, I'm very sorry for almost abandoning this story, and I won't try to make valid excuses for why, but just know that I will be continuing. It is actually a top priority for me to do this story, along with 'Adventures' and 'No Pup's Land' - check those out if you haven't already - and I'll do my honest best to be more frequent. Anyway...**

 **Bye! Have a nice day! See you in the next chapter! Don't forget to review! Send a PM! Maybe some ideas, alright?**


	12. Missing

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! After an incessantly long hiatus, it is time to return to writing these for you. My excuse is that I had a million and one ideas for a fanfic that isn't even going to be posted for maybe several moons, but anyway we're back to this one and it's time for another chapter.**

 **DISCLAIMER:** ** _Kak_** **, disclaimer. I don't have time for you. (Apologies to RSA.)**

There was crying for half an hour from the white NZHD as she thought back to what she had done.

.

 _Rere was skipping along the beach, looking forward to a plan she had made for the day after. She had made up her mind to spend the day with her good friends the PAW Patrol, as usual._ **[I would take this statement as it pertains to Rererangi with more than a pinch of salt.]**

 _As she skipped, though, she became aware of a presence approaching her, and the skip slowed to a trot and then to a walk as she scanned her surroundings. She found the culprit eventually; an all black dog who looked similar to her._ **[All black? Finally. No more albinism. ... Now it's melanism. Yay...]**

 _"Excellent," she muttered sarcastically as she put her back to that dog. The black dog came to her with the widest grin you'd ever see, even wider than The Criminal could stretch his jaw line._ **[Wow. I'm genuinely surprised that that is even possible. Kudos to you, man.]** _This contrasted heavily with the The-Expert-esque expression worn by the girl._ **[I mean, being able to do anything that The Expert does deserves credit. Kudos to you, Rere.]**

 _"Hey, Rere. Long time no see, ey?" the black dog said. Rere didn't even try to answer and succeeded in only letting him talk more. "Come give your old boyfriend a hug."_ **[Well, it's over now. Exes have joined the scene.]**

 _Rere wheeled around, livid, and responded, "You best get your melanistic tail out of my sight before I kick you from here to next Sunday, Pouri._ **[Consider that I published this on Monday/Tuesday. That's a hefty ol' kick right there.]** _Besides, haven't thought about you a single day since I found somebody much better."_

 _"Aww, don't be that way. I just came by to say hi to you."_ **[And you said hi. Bye bye now.]**

 _"And you have. Get out."_

 _"Not even - "_ **[No. No more digging and shovelling and selling rubber tomahawks. Adiós, amigo!]**

 _"Out!" Pouri stepped back, evidently surprised by the outburst from Rere. He did as he was told, though vowing to ruin anything that she and the other had._

 _"She's mine and mine alone."_ **[Yeah, this is me tapping into the giant reservoir of Hollywood clichés. Apologies.]**

 _._

"I should have just left him alone and this would never have happened." Rere wiped more tears from her eyes, and as she did a new thought came to mind. "But how did any wind of that get caught by him? No one was there! Unless... " she paused, "...unless when he left, he told someone and then that person told him? Hmm..."

Minutes later, Rere was in the forest searching high and low for The Criminal to learn if he had seen or heard Pouri. **[First choice is worst choice ... said no one ever.]**

"You know, this kinky black dog did come up to me - in the middle of me planning my next heist, no less," he replied after hearing the situation, "and said something along the lines of 'Hey, do you know Rere? Ok, tell her bf that she's cheating on him with me.' Tell you what, that threw a wrench in the works. Couldn't think clearly after that, so I went down to Mr. Stoic and told him. He started singing this song - I've heard it before, just can't remember what it's called - kinda goes 'I've got demons running 'round in my head' or something. Think it's by..." **[I express my deepest thanks for you shutting up.]** He only stopped jabbering when he saw that Rere was not even there to hear him. "...Barkstille." **[Hey, Barkstille! Just like that other guy who sang 'Pompeii'! Except ... would it be 'Pup-peii'? Just asking.]** He looked around for the albino NZHD, to see that she had indeed disappeared. "Well, then. I think I'd better go with, to help convey the message to the other pups. I also need to figure out why I'm telling myself this and not actually doing it." And off he went to the Lookout.

* * *

If The Criminal thought he was going to be late for the confession, he was sorely mistaken. Rere did not seem to be in the least bit of a hurry to get back to the Lookout, as she trudged astonishingly slowly to the tall building, obviously wondering what the other pups would say when she told them that she was the reason for The Expert's sudden disappearance. **[Well, I'm guessing it's not great.]** The Criminal played the arbitrator and decided for both parties that it was better to get this done faster. He pushed Rere all the way, up the hill, and into the Lookout, despite her protests, where all the pups were seemingly getting ready to go on a rescue mission. **[Not 'Adventures'. Stay on track.]**

"What's this?" The Criminal asked.

"We're going out to look for The Expert," Chase said in response. **[Chase is the unanimously voted spokespup of the group.]** "Have an idea of where he might be, Rere?"

"Well, no," she began, "but I do know why he left."

"Why?" they collectively asked. Even The Criminal joined in.

"It's ... it's all because of me." **[Wrong!]**

"What?!"

 **All finished. Man, I wrote this thing in one hour just to get it to you at the time of release. Hope you enjoyed. N.B. Pouri's bio will be up a day after release. Check it out if you so desire.**

 **Bye! Have a nice day! See you in the next chapter! Don't forget to review! Send a PM! Maybe some ideas, alright?**


	13. Back

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! Yeah, an upload! When was the last you saw that? Anyway, let's get straight into this chapter and hopefully it's a good one.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Laziness kicks in and I keep my mouth shut. Apologies.**

The pups were aghast. This was completely beyond belief. "How could it possibly be youw fault?" Zuma questioned.

Rere related the incident, though failing to convince them that it was indeed her fault. **[That's not an answer to the question, anyway, so...]**

"It's still not your fault! It's obviously his!" **[That's true.]**

"It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't provoked him, though," Rere practically cried. **[That's true too.]**

"But they were his actions!" the young English bulldog tried. "Right, Rocky?"

There followed nothing. The ecology pup had vanished. **[Does This Remind You Of Anything?]**

"What...?"

* * *

Rocky had heard a strange noise behind him, and had turned around to locate its source. That's when a shockingly white paw pulled him out of the conversation, and Rocky found himself face-to-face with The Expert himself. **[Oh, look, it's The Expert. No one saw that coming.]**

Before Rocky could call the others, The Expert shut him up and led him silently to a place out of sight and earshot of the others, and there began, even ignoring any of Rocky's questions about where he had gone. **[Sounds like him.]**

"I want you to help me with an idea of mine." The ensuing silence was a sign to him to continue. "I want to create a mechanism to be able to speak to someone as a voice in their mind." **[I would not be shocked if Rocky could make that.]**

Immediately Rocky's exceptionally large brain clicked into gear, and incredibly quickly the task was done.

"I knew this would come in handy one day!" He shouted as he produced a space age machine with a door to a large chamber in front and two long tubes, one larger, at the back. **[I would, however, be shocked if he had already made it.]**

"Let's not ask why you had this in the first place," The Expert smirk-said.

"Okay. This is the, um, Fantasy Actuator and Realism Transmorpher, and - " He was stopped.

"Take a moment to form the acronym for that." Rocky did, and nearly laughed out of embarrassment. **[Why? FAR- Ohhhhhhh...]**

"Well, at least it's not called the Synthesizer of Hallucinations and Illusions Too, or the Fantasy Upriser and Chimera Kick-starter, or something like that." The mixed breed caught on, and gawked that The Expert would think of something so darkly inappropriate. **[Let's not try those ones...]**

"Well, whatever it's called, all anyone has to do is step inside, where they're put to sleep. They'll feel like they're in an alternate reality. Then someone else can talk to them through the larger tube at the back, and see them in their "dream" through the smaller one." **[Yes, yes, very scientific. Does it work, though?]**

"Excellent," the albino BMD mused. "Call Rererangi and tell her to get in. I'll do the rest." And he disappeared into hiding, ironically when the others had found Rocky. **[Huh.]**

"Oh, there you are!" they hollered. He turned to them, in time to answer their next inquiry: "What is this?"

"Oh, this is the, um," he thought of a more reasonable name, "Insinuator of Fantasies and Illusions, or the IFI."

"Sounds iffy," Marshall joked, to the amusement of all. **[** **Sounds - ah, beat me to it.]**

"What does it do?" Rere asked. Rocky saw an opportunity.

"Experience it yourself." **[Let's imagine that this is a deathtrap for a few seconds. What would you do?]**

She was puzzled, but complied nonetheless. **[Not this.]** She opened the door, stepped in, and Rocky shut it behind her. He quickly addressed the other pups. "I'd advise you to stay well back." Not wanting to become victims of an unfortunate combustion, they stepped back quite a ways away. **[They're fully expecting her to die. Hmm.]**

Rocky ran to the back of the IFI and wordlessly signalled to The Expert, who came up to him with a recording device.

"This should give her quite an experience," the white pup said, with a hint of a malicious tone. **[Yay!]**

* * *

Rere, currently, had no idea where she was. The sky was totally orange. The grass that was green was now a strange pink colour. The Lookout, whose theme should have been red and blue, was now light blue and orange respectively. Indeed, all the colours were negative. **[Try putting all the colours of a photo negative and see what it looks like. It looks like a horrible white mess, last I checked.]**

"This is weird."

Suddenly, she heard a clock begin ticking. It ticked several times before ominously calm music began to sound alongside the ticks. And suddenly it turned to night. **[So you're telling me that the IFI can also change time depending on the sound that comes into it? Rocky's Developer Insight must be off the charts.]**

And an eerily familiar voice began to sing. It seemed to come from everywhere. **[Details to full song in the bio as of now.]**

 _I never make a sound_  
 _Fingers crossed I shut my mouth_ **[But you're singing, so I believe your mouth is open.]**  
 _Thoughts - they're creeping through my teeth_ **[How? They're not even physical entities!]**

Rere scanned the immediate vicinity to locate the source of the voice, to no avail. No one was with her. Then the voice was heard again.

 _Drip, drop, the night is loud_  
 _Silence seems to drown me out_ **[Rather obvious oxymoronic statement. But hey, I didn't write this song.]**

Before she knew it, she sang the next line aloud:

 _Box my thoughts and give me some relief_

She clamped a paw over her mouth, now quite scared that she sang that with no knowledge of the song, and more shockingly, no impulse to do so. The music intensified as the next lines approached.

 _I wanna let you down_  
 _Make you toss and turn around_  
 _Won't you give me what I need_

Rere wanted to shout to the voice an adamant 'no', but quite frankly, she was too frightened to say it.

 _I wanna let you down_  
 _And I'm always lost and never found_ **[If you're always lost, then you're never found. But, it had to rhyme, didn't it?]**  
 _Won't you give me what I need_

The last word was held as the music intensified even further than thought possible. Then, of a sudden, the music disappeared and left only the pounding bass as the voice sounded again, drastically different. It was high-pitched and fluid at first; now it was deep and robotic.

 _Tick, tock, make me creep_  
 _Never ending, counting sheep_ **[For those wondering, counting sheep works because it's boring as anything.]** _  
Aw  
_ _Never get no sleep_

The last two words echoed thrice, before the dark tune continued. Rere dashed into the strange-looking Lookout to try to evade the sounds, but it didn't work. And then she again sang the next few lines with no intention of it.

 _Tick, tock, make me creep_  
 _Never ending, counting sheep  
_ _Aw_  
 _Never get no sleep_

Her voice matched perfectly with that bone-chilling low voice. Then there was that clock again, the song seemingly having reverted to the original tune. Rere looked frantically around for a possible escape, at which point the TV switched on by itself, showing a very old news show. The girl whipped her head in utter terror to the screen. The anchorman there seemed to continue the song, by saying:

 _Do you know what the most frightening thing in the world is? It's fear._ **[Nothing to fear but fear itself. And Chuck Norris.]**

Then the television switched to a sort of movie scene, with two businessmen having a rather vindictive conversation on opposite ends of a small table. One snatched up the other by the collar and said:

 _Did you plan on going to bed in the near future?_ **[Did you?]**

The other slammed his fist onto the table and replied:

 _No!_

Rere wanted to shout the opposite answer so badly. She so wanted to wake up out of this horrific place. The TV shut off itself, and a different, softer voice began:

 _There's nothing to worry about. You're gonna be just fine._ **[This is just a hallucination, after all.]**

As she heard these words, Rere smiled minimally. Yeah, she was gonna be fine. This must be some fever dream. She _would_ go to sleep, and wake up, and be out of this nightmare.

But as she made her way to a nearby beanbag to do just that, the robotic voice from before said:

 _But whatever you do..._

And then another voice, evidently a girl's, frightened her with:

 _Don't ... fall ... asleep._ **[If you didn't realise the '5 Nights at Freddy's' reference, worry not; I didn't either.]**

Rere suddenly felt a hand touch her on her shoulder and she wheeled around at lightning speeds, to see nothing. She backed away as quickly as possible, directly into a switch. She turned and barely had enough time to read the label before everything turned pitch black.

It read 'Lockdown'. **[Well, then.]**

"Well, there go my chances of escaping," she whispered in a trembling voice.

The song continued, despite her musings.

 _Don't drop the curtains down_  
 _Darkness is the whole surround_ **[Well, he ain't kidding.]**

There went her mouth again.

 _My mind is lurking at my feet_

More voices chimed in and replayed the last three words, harmonising in an eerie way. The albino NZHD felt something run over her paws and she literally jumped metres into the air to avoid it. **[Ah, clever me. Tying the line about the feet into the ambience.]**

 _Criss, cross, t_ _he night is sour_  
 _Pupils fixed on every hour_

At this point, Rere was trying to find some form of way to tell the time, so that she'd know when day would arrive. She was scared even more by the fact that the song knew exactly what she was doing. **[Well, technically, that only started now. Oh well.]**

 _Sunrise is the only thing that's sweet_

"Oh, if only sunrise would come now," she wished.

Then the music swelled again, bringing back a familiar verse.

 _I wanna let you down_  
 _Make you toss and turn around_  
 _Won't you give me what I need_

This time, these last three words were echoed, adding yet more spookiness. **[Awesome. Just what my life needs.]**

 _I wanna let you down_  
 _And I'm always lost but never found_  
 _Won't you give me what I need_ _  
_

Just like before, the last note was kept as the music increased again. "Not that voice again..." Rere besought.

It was that voice again. Low, robotic, monotonous, awful. **[Hey, just like my voice! Didn't sing this song, though.]**

 _Tick, tock, make me creep_  
 _Never ending, counting sheep  
Aw  
_ _Never get no sleep (no sleep, no sleep, no sleep)  
_ _Tick, tock, make me creep_  
 _Never ending, counting sheep  
Aw  
_ _Never get no sleep_

The music stopped briefly, tricking her into believing that the song was done. **["Hahahahaa, take that!" says the song.]** But then it struck back up again, voice continuing in the same fashion.

 _Tick, tock, make me creep_  
 _Never ending, counting sheep  
Aw  
_ _Never get no sleep (no sleep, no sleep, no sleep)  
_ _Tick, tock, make me creep_  
 _Never ending, counting sheep_

The bass stopped here, thus indicating the end of this song.

 _Aw  
_ _Never get no sleep_

And just like that, Rere was removed from the strange and startling atmosphere, instead finding herself back in the IFI. Her eyes shot open, and she pushed open the door to the machine and fell out, face and maw matted in sweat.

Naturally, all the pups ran to check on her. "Are you okay?" They queried in tandem. **[Yeah! I mean, at least she's alive, right?]**

"I..." It took a few moments for Rere to find her voice. "That ... was..." she began, before her lips twisted into a grin, a mischievous idea inside her head. "Perfect."

"What?" Chase spoke up. Playing the logician, he stated, "You just came out of that thing like you saw every ghost ever to exist, and it was perfect?" **[Logicians don't succeed, because they do not imagine properly.]**

"Oh, not for me. Perfect for someone who needs to be taught a lesson."

It took a while, but the others caught on and smiled with the same malignity.

* * *

A few minutes later, The Expert noticed a familiar white pup return from somewhere with an unfamiliar black pup. If he were a smiler, he would have. **[But - no, no, I've gone this long without saying something so obviously stupid. Let's keep that going.]**

He watched the white one talk to the black, and the black step toward the IFI and get inside. He then saw the white pup whisper something to a grey mixed breed, before turning away and disappearing behind the machine. The mixed breed approached him apprehensively, as though trying to avoid being seen by the other pups.

"Rere wants him to have the same experience she had in the IFI," The Expert, not Rocky, said. **[There it is. That's what you pay your money to see.]** "I'll go play the song again." With that, he trod to the mechanism and did just that, leaving behind a bemused and amused Rocky.

Meanwhile, Rere was positioned in front of the IFI, just smirking, waiting for the pup eventually to tumble out of the machine, scared out of his mind.

And after around four minutes, she got her just desserts.

Pouri literally rolled out of the machine, his entire body of fur drenched, on the verge of crying woefully. **[Probably fell into a bathtub or something.]**

"That..." he stopped to catch his breath. "That - that thing is evil!"

Rererangi, still smirking, responded, "I know."

"You knew? Then why would you send me in there?!" **[Because you are too.]**

"Because I wanted you to feel bad for at least one thing in your life. Do you know who sang that song you just heard and witnessed?" Pouri shook his head no.

"I did." All heads turned to The Expert, who had then come out of hiding. He immediately put up a paw and stated, "Don't move." The pups, who had every intention of ploughing him over in a jubilant fashion, stayed put. **[We are about to get serious.]**

"Now tell me why you tried to step between Rererangi and me." **[He knew? But rule #1 prevents us from being surprised. Act not surprised, everyone!]**

 **And done! I find that I'm using plenty of song lyrics in these chapters, but I find a lot that I can use in them, so bear with that.  
** **Also, I've dropped below my "2 reviews per chapter" benchmark for this story, and would very much like to re-surpass it. No force, but a review would be greatly appreciated.**

 **P.S. Try to guess what the song used is called and by whom it was.**

 **Bye! Have a nice day! See you in the next chapter! Don't forget to review! Send a PM! Maybe some ideas, alright?**


	14. The Final Confrontation

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! Final scene of this act, coming to you today! So for those who care about this story, I haven't died.**

 **I was recently thinking about, and discussing with The Expert himself, this story and I realised that it probably would have been much smarter to put these acts into different, separate fanfics, so that I don't have a huge, always unfinished story to deal with (but I didn't, because I'm stupid). I'll probably break 'Adventures' and 'Misadventures' into those smaller stories and continue from there. Don't let me know your opinions. Please don't. It'll happen after the upcoming 'Adventures' chapters, so be patient if you're excited.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Seriously, how many times must I say that which has already been established? Four hundred and ninety? I think not.**

"Wha - oh, you're the one who did such an idiotic thing like try to take Rere away from me!" Pouri stated, a forced smile stretching across his maw. **[Be thou prepared for an onslaught of annoyance.]**

"Says the idiot who tried to make me feel bad about it and take her back, both of which you've clearly failed sorrowfully to do," The Expert smirk-stated, aggravating the black dog. **[There's one.]**

"Don't - "

"Says," The Expert stressed, cutting Pouri off, "the one who started it with the smart-aleck behaviour." As to be expected, the recipient of the instance of speech prediction took a step back and tried to comprehend. **[Two.]**

"How - "

"I'm an expert at these things." The pups chuckled to themselves as the familiar catchphrase was uttered. **[Three.]**

"Oh, so - " Pouri was stopped yet again.

"Yes." **[Four.]**

"Stop - " And again.

"No." **[Five. Need we go on?]**

"I'll - "

"Then go ahead. Who's stopping you?" **[Guess so. ... Six.]**

"I'm - "

"And I believe your 'warning'. That doesn't exactly mean I'll back down, though." **[Seven...]**

"Last cha - "

"For you." **[Eight...]**

"That's it!" Pouri exclaimed, seething, and he cuffed the white dog in his jaw. **[Ni - oh, we're done.]** The Expert took a step back, facing away, and held his jaw, not at all shocked - he knew that would happen and he wanted it to happen.

All of a sudden, however, there was the faint sound of crying. _Surely not?_ the PAW Patrol and Rere thought simultaneously. Pouri heard it too, and thought he saw an opportunity to get at his 'victim'. **[Shame. Shame be upon you, everyone except Pouri. You should know him well enough to be able to tell that he most certainly will not cry if he's hit in his face. I mean, if you think back, he's been slashed in his side and shot in his neck and he's the recipient of many cruel blows like both his parents' deaths, going through them all without so much as a single tear - even in pain, so it should be thoroughly impossible for him to be put to tears by a simple instance of one-sided fisticuffs. Be real. I, even I, in all my stupidity, know that this cannot be. Shame. ... How long was that?]**

"Oh, you're crying? Good. Then go home and cry to your daddy like the coward you are." **[He's dead. Nuff said. ... That rhymed, actually.]**

The pups' eyes all widened and some even gasped silently.

"Whoo, dudes, you know he ain't gonna get away with that," Zuma whispered, an unamused laugh coming out with the sentence.

"I'll say," Chase put in, and he gestured toward Rererangi. She looked as mad as anyone had ever been. **[When you exist in a realm where almost everyone smiles almost constantly, that's not hard. However, you don't, so fair play to you.]**

"Should we shut our eyes?" Rubble questioned.

"Might be better," Skye answered, and indeed their eyes were shut, Rubble and Rocky opting to turn away.

Pouri was grinning from ear to ear, which was impressive considering he was a dog. **[Wait - ... He's doing that literally? That is impressive.]** But that quickly changed when The Expert turned back to him, no evidence of crying on his face, and with a look that begged for a cheeky grin. The next thing that happened was nearly catastrophic. **[Yep. He's dead.]**

Two full minutes later, there was a fully satisfied Rererangi, an indifferent The Expert, and no Pouri - he chose to leave with his life and had fled from the enraged girl. **[Oh, so he isn't dead. Cool.]** The PAW Patrol cautiously looked back at the scene, but they had no need to worry - the worst was over.

When they saw the tumult had ended, they looked at The Expert, expectant for something. He read their minds and said, "Now you can - go ahead." **[Yay, he's back. Took too long, author. Whoever that is.]**

Within one second he was thrown onto the ground in what seemed like an overdue hug to the givers, especially Rererangi who missed him most. The pups had quite a few questions for him. **[Am I going to have to answer them or is he going to aaaaaaand l realise that they're for him so...]**

"Where did you go?"

"How did you know he did that?"

"Why were you singing that song?"

The list would have continued had not The Expert stepped in to answer them. **[Yeah. That's what l thought.]**

"First, I went to the police station. Nobody bothers actually to look for anyone who isn't an officer or a prisoner there, so I knew I'd have enough time to prepare my plan. Second, I knew it was he who did this thing because, honestly, who does that except for jealous and/or extremely gossipy people?" Everyone laughed. **[Ha ha ha, good joke. Ha ha ha ha ha... Seriously, that was good, right guys?]** "Lastly, I sang that song because it fit perfectly with the situation. Has anyone ever heard of Othello?" **[No, but everyone knows Hamlet.]**

Only Rocky had, unsurprisingly.

"Ah, well, I'll share that later. But right now, don't worry about me. Nothing's wrong, alright?"

"Alright." **["So upon the reunion of the Patrol and its most insightful member, the former will simply say 'Alright' when told that nothing's wrong with the latter." That's what the developer said when he drank too much. Don't drink.]**

The pups left the scene in groups, save Rere, who asked The Expert to sing the song because she hadn't heard it. **[Song lyrics coming up. Analysis in my profile a couple days after this chapter is posted. As always.]** He obliged and began:

 _I've got demons running 'round in my head_

 _And they feed on insecurities I have_

 _Won't you lay your healing hands on my chest?_

 _Let your ritual clean_

 _Soak the ropes with your holy water_

 _Tie me down as you read out the words_

 _Set me free from my jealousy_

 _Won't you exorcise my mind?_

 _Won't you exorcise my mind?_

 _I want to be free as I'll ever be_

 _Exorcise my mind_

 _Help me exorcise my mind_

There was a slight pause before he continued.

 _Desdemona, won't you liberate me_

 _While I'm haunted by your ancient history?_

 _Close these green eyes and watch over as I sleep_

 _Through my darkest of dreams_

 _Be the power to compel me_

 _Hold me closer than anyone before_

 _Set me free from my jealousy_

 _Won't you exorcise my mind?_

 _Won't you exorcise my mind?_

 _I want to be free as I'll ever be_

 _Exorcise my mind_

 _Help me exorcise my mind_

 _I should be thinking 'bout nothing else when_

 _I'm with you, ooh_

 _With you, ooh, oh-oh-oh_

 _I should be thinking 'bout nothing else when_

 _I'm with you, ooh_

 _With you, ooh, oh-oh-oh_

Another break, but this time a voice came through from nowhere, saying:

 _Your mind exists somewhere altogether different._

 _It lives in a world where feelings simply cannot be defined by words._

The Expert waited a little, seemingly keeping beat, before continuing:

 _Oh, oh_

 _Set me free from my jealousy_

 _Won't you exorcise my mind?_

 _Won't you exorcise my mind?_

 _I want to be free as I'll ever be_

 _Exorcise my mind_

 _Help me exorcise my mind_

 _Help me exorcise my mind_

 _Won't you exorcise my mind?_

After the song he received much applause from his audience of one, who after several minutes of clapping, decided that she should return home and let the pups to themselves. **[The developer reeeeeaaaaally made the two of them separate as easily as that? What did he snort after drinking? ... Don't do drugs either.]**

"Another hectic adventure comes to a close. I have a feeling the next one will be worse, though," muttered The Expert to himself. **[Yay - I mean, no. Nooo. That's bad.]**

 **I don't have time to talk to you now because I've got a chapter of 'Adventures' to put up today so I'll sign off with my usual:**

 **Bye! Have a nice day! See you in the upcoming short stories! Don't forget to review! Send a PM! Maybe some ideas, alright?**


	15. The Windows to the Soul

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! I will admit, this is a sort of stolen idea, mixed with a cliché idea, but in my defence there is an original twist to it, so I can't really be slapped up for theft or piracy or anything like that. Have fun!**

 **Also, please go and read my latest 'Adventures' story, or some things will require more cells of your cerebral cortex to function to understand what is going on. Not trying to market the story. Really, I'm not.**

 **DISCLAIMER: You know how you can do your favourite things for hours and not get bored of them? Disclaimers are not like those things. Telling someone over and over that you don't own any rights to this show gets immensely tedious very quickly.**

Stefan was just chilling in his brother's house after his last bit of activity when Rere came up to him with tears in her eyes. **[Lovely.]**

"Let me guess," he remarked upon seeing her. "Pouri?" She nodded. "What'll it take for this guy to get it into his thick skull that you don't, and won't, love him?" **[I thought Counting Sheep would have put that firmly in his mind by now.]**

"Oh, he - he's got it into his head. Now - now he's trying to - to make me doubt - " she stopped to swallow. "My relationship with - with him." **[Unbelievable.]**

"Him as in The Expert, right," Stefan clarified for himself. "But why? You love him, and you know he loves you. What's the issue?"

"Now, I'm - I'm not sure he does." **[All in favour of ki - um, kissing Pouri with the Kiss of De - ... Divine, uh, Removal, say 'aye'.]**

Those words hit Stefan like a big boulder. "No. He wouldn't." The girl nodded. "What an absolute, genuine, certified, legally authorised, git. What'd he say?" **[For those of you unfamiliar with that term, ... please research it. It's not always my job to tell you what I have in my tales. Plus, we need to move on quickly. Sorry.]**

* * *

Rere was skipping along, ebullient as ever, for she was going to see her favourite pup in the world. She always enjoyed being in his company, and his brother's too.

That good mood evaporated when she ran into her least favourite pup in the world. **[That is what happens, technically. Psychologically. And everything else like that.]**

"Get out of my face now, Pouri."

"Or you'll do what?" he countered.

"D'you want a repeat? I heard a lovely one for you - "

"That won't be necessary." He shuddered at the, still fresh, memory. **[Glad to see you remember, Pouri. Now I don't have to do that again.]** "Oh hey, speaking of faces..."

"What about them." It was a question, but it was asked so dully that it couldn't warrant a question mark. **[Sounds suspiciously like me.]**

"Why do you think he loves you? He clearly doesn't show it," Pouri said.

"What do you mean? Of course he does," she returned. "You just never see it because you're too wrapped up in yourself and your own affairs to care." **[She's not wrong.]**

"Look at this, then." He produced a tablet, likely "borrowed" from someone, with a piece of information on it. "Here, it says that the less someone expresses feelings with their face, the less likely they are to have them." **[He's also not wrong. That usually is the general consensus.]**

Rere kept her face nonplussed, but the seed of doubt was there.

"I mean, I guess I could be wrong. I haven't been back there since, so I don't know how he's been acting, but there you have it. How can you be so sure that he actually cares for you?" He promptly left.

Rere simply stood there, taking in the information. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed likely. **[Guilty of overthinking.]**

"What if he doesn't really love me like I love him?"

* * *

"That's underhanded. I knew he was one for that, from what I've seen from him, but that seems really low, even for him." **[If underhanded exists, then overhand does too, right? And it means the opposite, right? Right?]**

"I know, but it might be true..." Her tears hadn't subsided, but her voice had returned, somewhat, to normal.

Just then, The Expert stepped into view.

"How - " his brother proceeded to ask.

"Long enough to know what's going on," he responded. **[Speech prediction. Yay!]**

"So, thirty seconds?" Stefan laughed after his own bad joke, before stopping and beginning again. "But seriously, can you help her?" **[I mean, he is The Expert. You'd assume so.]**

The Expert nodded. "Rererangi, let's have a staring contest." **[What?]**

"Oh, uh, okay." He sat down, and she as well, facing each other. Stefan excused himself.

The Expert gently wiped away the tears on his Rere's face. "Are you ready?" he asked softly. She nodded, not fully sure where this was going. **[Neither am I, to be honest.]**

"Okay. Go."

Immediately she locked eyes with him and forced her eyes to stay open. She stared straight down his blue eyes' pupils, and soon she decided to search the hypothetical depths down them.

That's when she saw what he wanted her to see: in his right eye, she noticed all the feelings, all the emotions that he hid from reaching his face. All the happiness and comfort he experienced around her. All the desire to help her through anything she might have a struggle with. All the yearning to keep her safe. **[Whoa.]**

But in his left, she saw the worry he had that he'd never be able to protect her forever. The longing he had that she'd never leave him because he wasn't good enough. The sheer fright of his envisioning of his life without her in it. The absolute hatred he had for himself when he got himself hurt the second time, allegedly making her stay by him when she could've been doing something else. **[Whoa.]**

But above all, behind every one of these things, she saw the untainted love he harboured for her. **[Double whoa.]**

She started to cry at that. The tears welled up in her eyes, making her blink but she didn't care. She smiled through the streams now running down her face and, looking at him, how could she not.

She kissed him. **[LET'S GO! Apologies to headphone users.]**

 **Und ve are done! I don't know what else I could've made happen on this one, especially at the end, but hey. Could still be good. Hope you enjoyed this little thing!**

 **Till next time, ciao!**


	16. Date Evening

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! I have had a fairly strange idea, and decided to turn it into a chapter, 'cause, that's what you do, innit? Anyway, the reference should be right there in the open for you to spot. If any of you remember where it's from, good on you! You'll get something. I haven't decided yet.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I'm sorry, but the disclaimer you are trying to contact is out of order. Please use another chapter to connect.**

Marshall was excited. He was about to go out to meet someone important, and he was just finished preparing himself physically and mentally for this moment. **[I wonder what it could be, but then I realise that it's in the title and I laugh at myself.]**

However, as soon as he stepped outside, the sound of a siren rang out and raced around the air. His best friend, his best friend's partner-in-crime-prevention, and his best friend's partner-in-crime-prevention's only sibling all approached him with serious looks on their faces. "What's going on?" he asked them.

Without speaking, Chase pulled out a pair of pawcuffs and promptly put them on the Dalmatian's paws, after putting them behind his back. Marshall protested, but nothing was done to stop the German Shepherd.

Instead, The Expert and The Criminal proceeded to read Marshall his rights as Chase forced him back inside his house. **[I've always wondered. Everyone gets rights, right? So who gets lefts? A while ago I thought only left-handed people got lefts, but now I don't know. Care to explain?]**

"Excuse me, but you're under arrest for not looking your very best. You have the right to remain dressed. Any clothes you put on must be approved by the Fashion Police. You have the right to apply a proper fitting for the best experience possible. If you cannot afford one, one will be given you by the experts at your local parlour. You have the right to look your best on your date, and any occasion. If you do not wish to proceed with the entire process of preparation, you may ask to stop at any time. Understanding these rights as they have been read to you, are you ready to begin the preparation without a fitting present?" **[Hours of potentially useful research wasted on learning the reading of rights passage. I'm not even studying anything close to law.]**

Marshall was rendered speechless.

Then The Criminal and Chase both burst into hysterical laughter at their friend's nearly mortified face, Chase meanwhile removing the pawcuffs.

"Whose idea?" Marshall asked, aplomb partly recovered.

Two looked at the other, one smiling, one not.

"Stefan!" Marshall whined.

"What?" The Criminal defended himself. **[Maybe the fact that you pretended to arrest him and gave him probably one of the biggest frights of his life? I don't know, just spitballing.]**

"You scared the wits outta me!"

"He just wanted to help," The Expert justified. "Although, since we scared you so badly, we'll help you get really ready for your date. Fashion Police at your service. Isn't that right?" He said that in a tone that gave Chase and Stefan an immediate idea that they should agree in lieu of protesting. **[That's right. Always do as The Expert says. No matter how stupid it sounds.]**

"Oh, absolutely."

"Of course, of course."

"Thanks, guys - I guess," Marshall stated uncertainly. "But are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Yes," The Expert said while he rummaged through the closet. **[He's an expert at these things.]**

"At the least, he is. I, meanwhile, have zero faith in myself when it comes to these things," Chase expressed. Marshall gave him a face that said 'You and me both'.

"But if we didn't, why would we be here?" Stefan questioned rationally.

"To play a very bad joke."

"Very funny, brother." To The Expert's credit, Stefan still laughed a tiny bit. "But seriously, we are gonna make sure you are ready for this. Or we aren't the Fashion Police."

The Expert poked his head back into view from the wardrobe. "And you can start by closing your mouth and actually doing something."

Stefan rolled his eyes and walked into the room where his brother was. As he did, he mused, "I can never get over just how big these can be on the inside, even though the outside is so small." **[I headcannon. Sue me now or hold your peace until you make up your mind to sue me.]**

"Ignore that comment," Chase said as Marshall was about to complain about it. "You should get your fur in order. Some of your spots are looking askew."

"How would you know?" Marshall snickered. Chase laughed too. "Help me with my fur."

* * *

It took not ten minutes for Marshall and Chase to be done aligning the Dalmatian's surprisingly tangled fur. At one point Chase voiced his surprise that there were so many knots, as he couldn't see them normally. **[I guarantee that the animators did it like that so the viewers like me who point out absolutely everything wrong with shows we watch didn't say anything about that.]**

"When was the last time you did this?" he had asked. Marshall gave a three-fourths shrug. **[How does one do three-fourths of a shrug? Am - am I missing this vital piece of information from my life? Must research now...]**

Nevertheless they finished quickly and checked on the two albino brothers choosing the attire for Marshall.

They saw Stefan leave the closet, throwing his paw into the air. "You know what? Forget it, I don't even care anymore. Come out here."

The Shepherd and the Dalmatian looked at each other in confusion.

The Expert stepped out. "Hello, Chase. Marshall. I see you've finished your end."

"What's going on?" Chase asked him.

"I'll tell you," Stefan interrupted. "We were trying to pick out a dress code, and for all of them there was apparently something wrong, according to him." He pointed at The Expert, who half-shrugged. **[There. Something we're all very familiar with. Normal service has been resumed.]**

"In my defense, they were all identical." Marshall smiled awkwardly. "And none really said 'going out' to me."

"What are they? Let me see." Chase wandered around back and immediately looked back at Marshall with a deadpan expression. "Seriously?"

"I wasn't really prepared for this kind of advanced movements!" **[Said the poem.]**

"Yet you had a poem ready for her when you confessed," The Expert said drolly. "And several others. I saw the stack." **[Told you! Ha!]**

Marshall's face flushed.

"If you were prepared for that, you should really have been prepared for this, on the off chance she reciprocated, which she did." He paused. "But we'll let you off on the condition that neither Chase or I have anything like that either."

"Did - "

"Yes, Chase. And it looks very similar to Marshall's, might I add." Chase's face dropped.

"But what'll I do? She's expecting - " Marshall worried.

"She's expecting you. Not your suit and tie," Stefan said reasonably. "You can do without a fanciful dressing." **[Hey ... isn't that the 'she's marrying me, not my clothes' thing from Shakespeare?]**

"But, aren't you the Fashion Police? You said I must remain dressed."

"Surprised you even remotely remember something about that," Stefan said lowly.

"No, we said you have the right to remain dressed, and any clothes you put on must be approved by the Fashion Police," Chase recalled.

"And they were not. So you're going as is," The Expert arbitrated. "She'll still appreciate the work you did on your fur. You'll be fine. Enjoy yourself." And he pushed Marshall out and into the evening setting. **[Nice and crisp. Like how I like my fries. Unless you like soft fries, in which case, you do you.]**

The Dalmatian took a step, before looking back and mouthing thanks to the three pups who had helped him.

Chase and Stefan smiled. The Expert gave a minuscule nod.

With that Marshall walked off alongside the sunset. **[I couldn't really say 'into the sunset' because, well: first, the sun sets over the water, so he can't exactly walk too far that way; second, it would be geographically incorrect.]**

As he disappeared from view, Stefan thought of something. "Should we have given him his truck?"

"No," The Expert answered instantly.

"Would mess up his fur," Chase followed up not a half-second later. **[Which is why they make such a good crime-fighting team.]**

"Okay, then." He stayed silent for five seconds. "Should we follow him?"

"Yes," The Expert said, again quickly.

"Wouldn't miss it for the whole store of deluxe chew toys," Chase said after him. **[Which is why they make good friends.]**

And the three companions stepped after their expectant friend.

* * *

The Dalmatian would return to the Lookout with stars in his eyes, even more unsteady feet, a red mark on his cheek, and three very satisfied comrades. **[Heeheehee...]**

 **Ooh, how lazy was I on this one? I suppose that's what happens when you take too many hiatuses ... hiati ... whatever we call them nowadays. Anyway, here is this chapter. I really hope you even read this lazy piece of garbage and didn't just skip to the end because the notes here are funnier than the actual document.**

 **'Til next time, don't be a stranger!**


	17. Rocky and ? Part 1

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! I can't believe I didn't do something like this before, even with it being suggested to me almost a year ago! This will be as close to a stand-alone story as I can do for a 'Misadventures' substory, and I really hope you enjoy this one. Please REAR!**

 **WARNING: Due to the nature of this story and the way that I've decided to go about it, I have no choice but to put a trigger warning. Don't read if you don't like it and if you get triggered easily. And if you still do, and get triggered, don't say I didn't warn you and especially don't leave a hate review just because.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own this show. I don't say that I do either, because if I did, it would be a lie and I would probably be arrested immediately.**

A shy stray pup looked at the tall building on the hill and swallowed hard. This was the only place where she could get help for her insufferable addiction.

This pup was a Shikoku, mostly matte black, with white fur running down her chest to her underbelly, and white under her curled tail. She also had a white muzzle and white cheeks. Her small black ears lay flat against her head as she thought about what she was about to do. Her dark brown eyes looked all around, trying to detect any danger of intruders.

"Please help me," she besought no one as she climbed the hill and trudged around to the back.

* * *

The Expert was with Rocky as the technically gifted pup worked on a new invention. What it would do, he didn't know yet, but that was sometimes half the fun, he said. His companion was there to make sure that he didn't kill himself whilst he worked. **[Hahahahaaaa...]**

Suddenly, they both heard a noise coming from outside. The Expert, calm as ever, went out to investigate like the detective he was.

He very quickly found the source of the sound. A twig had been snapped by something. His nose caught the scent of something odd. It was a fellow canine, but he didn't recognise exactly who it was. "Someone new is visiting us. Maybe this could be it." **[Could be what?]**

He looked at the twig, mentally measuring the distance between the broken pieces of wood. "Seems like a Shiba Inu or a Shikoku." He looked up and around himself, his eyes falling on the open mouth of his own house. The darkness shrouded the interior well, but The Expert could tell that there was someone inside it. He strode up and heard a muffled female voice say, "They won't find me here."

He would-have-smiled. "Hey." **[They found her there.]**

She jumped in shock and looked up at the friendly, unsmiling face of The Expert.

"You're ... The Expert, a-aren't you?" He shook his head yes. "W-well, no wonder you found me here. You are an expert at these things, after all." She got a half-shrug in response. **[These guys are probably more famous than the rest of the Patrol.]**

"What's your name?" he asked her, to which she responded, "Luna."

"So Luna, can you tell me what a Shikoku like yourself is doing in my house on this fine day?"

"W-well, she's - "

"Looking for someone." **[And there it is. You knew it was coming.]**

She paused, and then she said silently, "Yes. Y-you, actually."

"What is it that you wish?" The Expert queried.

"I want you to help me with a problem that I have. It's ... a-an addiction, really." He moved his head in understanding.

"I'd be glad to assist you. Who is it?" Her jaw dropped, and she fainted; she recovered in a few seconds though. This was The Expert, after all - he was bound to figure it out. **[Oops - uh, I guess.]**

Meanwhile, Rocky was becoming concerned that his albino stoic friend hadn't returned yet, and right when something went wrong too. He peeked his head out of his house to see that very pup having a conversation with a stranger pup that had apparently taken shelter in The Expert's own home. He decided to find out what was going on.

The two of them saw him approaching, and the girl shrunk further into the darkness. The Expert didn't fail to see that. **[I can only imagine the fun things that are gonna happen now. Heavy on the sarcasm, please.]**

"What's going on, The Expert? Who are you talking to?"

"Hello, Rocky. This is Luna, and she's come here because she needs help with an addiction with which she's having trouble."

"Huh." He looked at the cowering Shikoku pup in the house, who waved timidly at him. He returned it. "Okay. Well, when you're done, please let me know. The mechanism of the ventilator has been decapitulated, and the temperature regulator is having to work twice as hard to stop the contraption from overheating - but it's not enough and the metalloid structure is starting to be ardent and it could combust at any moment." **[Ooh. Big words.]**

"You know what? I'll come right now. That sounds very serious." The Expert turned to Luna. "Could you stay here for a few minutes?"

"I-I suppose so. Be careful, okay?" **[We can be sure she said that to only one of them.]**

"We will," he assured her, and he and the mixed breed pup walked back to the green pup house.

Luna watched them leave, putting her head down on her paws and mumbling something to herself as she did.

Her silence wouldn't last long, though, because another white pup showed up out of nowhere and spotted her in the house. **[So what was that about nobobdy finding you there? That's two already.]**

"Whoa, I didn't expect guests today. What's going on?"

"Oh. Um, hey. S-Stefan, right? I'm Luna, a-and I need help. I-I have an addiction."

"You do?" He stepped into the house and sat beside her. "Why don't you tell me about it?"

* * *

During Stefan's chat with Luna, Rocky and The Expert had talked about their surprise visitor.

"I think it's odd for a pup to have an addiction," Rocky had said. **[Said many other fanfiction readers 'n' writers out there, until they realised what I meant.]**

"Chase had one. So did Marshall and Rererangi. Their respective addictions did too," The Expert reminded him.

"Oh," Rocky mused as he pieced together this meaning of the word. "But to whom would it be directed? All the good people are taken." **[Objectively. Just like how I am objectively better than some on this site. Not bashing anyone, remember: objectively.]**

The Expert ignored him completely. Instead he said, "You've never decided to use that many technical terms to anyone before today, not even to me. To everyone, a ventilator is a fan, and being ardent is simply glowing. Normally you treat it as such so they can know about what you're talking."

"I wanted to conceal the nature of the problem," he justified, looking up to his right as he spoke. **[Lies!]**

"You're lying. You did it for another reason. I'd wager a guess on you wanting to sound intelligent in front of our lady guest to impress her."

"They don't call you The Expert for nothing," Rocky muttered, chuckling. "Yeah, I did. I think she's - "

"Oh, look. Your problem is a cog that doesn't fit properly," The Expert interrupted as he pulled it out to show the mechanics mastermind. "Do you have another one?"

"Uh, I should," Rocky said as he went around to the back of his house to find a suitable gear replacement.

As he did, The Expert said to himself, "Lovely. That's another pup off the list." **[What? He has a list for these things?]**

 **Let's go! We are moving on and getting these pairings checked off the list. Like I said, please don't hate if you don't like what I've done, but if you did like it, awesome! Thanks very much!**

 **'Til next time, see you tomorrow!**


	18. Rocky and ? Part 2

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! We now continue with our ship story that we started yesterday. I don't really have much else to add, so please do read and enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Rights to this show I own not. The rights are by Nickelodeon and co. owned.**

It seemed to Rocky to be a coincidence that it had taken the same amount of time for The Expert and himself to deduce and solve the problem as it had for Stefan "The Criminal" to arrive and hear Luna's story, but that was apparently what had happened as he and his investigator friend returned to their guest to check on her.

The gadgeteer genius was having his mind work on overdrive, trying to understand to whom her addiction was directed. He thought about every available possibility and came up blank every time. **[Because we need tension.]**

Zuma? Sure, but he had never really taken interest in these sorts of topics when they'd come up. Luna would probably have known that if she, in any way, was 'addicted to him'.

Rubble? Unlikely. It was very probable that he was too young even to understand what would have been happening if it was him. **[Either that, or he'd like food more than them. Just saying.]**

Tracker didn't seem viable either. If he was the source then she would, more than likely, have gone out to the jungle to see him.

Rocky even considered Stefan. It would make sense. A lot of pups seemed to be interested in the albino brothers. But then, he was sure that the girl he'd saved from the white dog killer, Nicole was her name, had an insurmountable infatuation with him - and if Rocky wasn't mistaken, he liked her too.

Himself? That was even more unlikely than the rest of them. He was brilliant, he'd give himself that, but that was it. He wasn't suave or good-looking. He was nothing like that. On a mental scale of one to ten he was a zero. No, a rating that would be even more fitting was a negative twenty. **[Technically,** **he's not wrong. Wish he'd be more sure of himself, though.]**

And what made that fact all the more heartbreaking was that he had started to like her. **[Wonderful.]**

He barely knew her, but there was something about her that drew him to her and he didn't know why. He would have to talk to his friendly neighbourhood expert on things about this later.

But he put those sentiments to the back of his mind as the brothers talked about something that he couldn't entirely catch. He heard around three words, each of which had no definitive correlation to a proper answer to his mental queries.

Suddenly, he felt Stefan's gaze on him and he looked back, tilting his head in confusion. As soon as Stefan saw that, he turned back to whom Rocky assumed to be Luna and stated more words in what looked to be a definitive tone of arbitration. He also caught a glimpse of The Expert performing his traditional half-shrug, after Luna had seemingly asked him a question. All this served only to pique his curiosity. **[All the big words!]**

Very soon he saw the two albino Bernese mountain dogs step back and then emerged the black Shikoku who had caught his interest. And she proceeded to amble towards him.

Rocky tried hard not to think about how pretty she looked when she walked over to him, and instead tried to think about what she wanted. **[He probably failed.]**

"Um, h-hi, Rocky. I - um," she paused and swallowed thickly. "I wanted t-to ask y-you i-if you'd show me a-around. They ... they told me you'd b-be able to give the f-full tour, s-since you're the smart one."

Rocky didn't miss any of the stammers. He wasn't an idiot, he knew that that meant nervousness or anxiety, but why would she be so nervous to ask for a tour? Especially after she'd probably spent a good five minutes talking with Stefan and The Expert about this very moment? Perhaps she was naturally shy. **[I mean, again, he's not really wrong.]**

"Absolutely. I wouldn't reject a proposition to take an excursionist as yourself for a jaunt around the Lookout." **[That could genuinely have ended after word one.]**

She looked at him blankly, clearly not understanding all the words that were spoken. Rocky caught on and felt his face start to boil. "Uh, I mean, yes. I'd be glad to."

She smiled at him and giggled a little. "So shall we go?" she prompted.

"We shall," he responded, and the pair strode away.

Once they were out of sight, Stefan grinned a big grin that would have made ear-to-ear an understatement. "This is going so well! I can't believe nothing's gone wrong yet." **[Key word: yet.]**

"Knowing you, something will go wrong," his older brother said, to his false horror.

"How dare ye? I never do such things to my friends and especially not to strangers!"

"Said Marshall and Everest." **[Said Marshall and Everest.]**

"Yeah, yeah. Fine. But seriously, I promise, I won't try anything funny this time." He put his left front paw behind his back and his right front into the air in what he felt was a stance that emanated the lack of perjury. **[I hope he realises that you're actually supposed to put your right on the Book and the left in the air.]**

"And then you're going to go behind their backs and trap both of them in a cave somewhere until they confess their constantly growing emotions to each other, and then you're going to bring them back and say "Tastes like diabetes" and feel proud of yourself. So un-cross your digits."

Stefan's face immediately went deadpan, and he brought forward his paw and un-crossed his digits. "You're no fun." **[May I please 'XD'?]**

The Expert half-shrugged again. "I mean, you can do it, as long as you don't actually do anything dangerous."

Stefan's face brightened. "I take it back. You are fun." And he ran off.

The Expert immediately turned around and went back to accompany the small tour party of two. Needless to say, they were surprised to see him joining them. He only said that he was there just in case something bad happened - they acknowledged that with a smile and a shake of the head yes before they continued on.

Only five minutes later all three were abducted by a hooded figure. **[Shock horror twist!]**

* * *

"Where are we?" Rocky asked groggily as he awoke from his sudden slumber, seeing Luna not far from him. **[He asks this as though there will be someone conveniently positioned there to answer immediately.]**

"I ... I-I don't know," she stated worriedly as he got up to check on her. "I-I'm f-fine, thanks. What about you?"

"I'm okay, though I'd love to know where we are and how to get out of this place."

"Hmm. Déjà vu." Both Rocky and Luna jumped at the sound of another voice behind them, the latter more so. Though, they quickly recognised the flatness that was characteristic of only one individual in the world.

"The Expert, I didn't see you there," Rocky remarked when he had turned around. "Do you know where we are?"

"Fortunately, yes I do." Luna's face lit up like a hundred suns, as did Rocky's. "Unfortunately," he continued, making their faces drop a little, "we can't exactly leave right now due to that monstrosity." He pointed to his right to a blazing, stationary wall of fire. **[Whoa. Really déjà vu.]**

"Oh n-no, not f-f-fire..." Luna whispered as she backed away. "I d-don't like f-fire a-at all."

"Why not?" Rocky queried in a soft tone, to which she answered, "I-I haven't had th-the best experiences w-with it."

"A burnt pup dreads fire, after all," The Expert stated. Rocky agreed non-verbally. "What happened?" the white pup continued.

 **Whoa, is that a cliffhanger? What could possibly have happened to this poor Shikoku? You shall find out in the next chapter! See you then!**

 **'Til next time, ciao!**


	19. Rocky and ? Finale

**Hello, fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! You already know what this is, it's yet another installment of the story that I should have done a long time ago; but hey, we move anyway. This part has a sad beginning and a happy ending, which is how life should be. Enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I received a phone call from the albino brothers. They informed me that a document had been signed that legally makes all rights to this show unobtainable by me. Somebody in the legal field must not like me a lot.**

"I-I was just a-a few weeks old wh-when my p-parents took me to see our n-neighbour's house a-as it was burning. It was struck by lightning. By then, everyone had m-made it out s-safely and the f-fire department had already a-arrived and was doing th-their job." She sniffled. "B-But I was a tiny pup, I-I didn't understand h-how dangerous f-fire really was, e-even though my p-parents had told me a-about it. S-So I ran up to the house t-to get a c-closer look at it, and I-I got too close. The f-flames licked my f-fur and set m-me on f-fire." She paused to swallow past a mound in her throat and to wipe away a tiny droplet of salted water from her face. "Thankfully, m-my parents managed to p-put me out before any s-serious d-damage could be done. S-Since then, though, I-I've been scared of f-fire." **[That is bad.]**

She could feel tears starting to come hard and fast from her eyes. "Oh great, n-now I'm c-crying." She fell to the floor in mortification.

"Truth be told," Rocky started, blinking more than was considered normal, "I want to cry too." **[You're not alone in that regard.]**

"I get the feeling that you're not done, though," The Expert remarked. "Is there something else that happened?"

Luna nodded slowly, wiping more tears away - though to no avail as they kept coming. "They say lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place," she began, not stammering as she once did, even with her crying. "Well, for me it kind of did, literally. It was only two days after my neighbour's house was nearly razed when my own house suffered the same fate. I was away with some of my puppy friends when it happened, and my parents were at home. Unfortunately, the door crashed down before they could escape and they got trapped." She stopped talking for a second as she felt something wrap around her and something rest on her head. "The fire department did their best, but it was too late. They died from severe burns before they could even be found in the house." **[That is arguably worse.]**

The Expert stooped down to the ground to face her more easily. "Luna." She looked up at him. "I understand how that would affect you. It's perfectly normal to hate something after it did that to you."

"H-How would you know? It's - " **[And here we go.]**

"You want to talk about loss? You really want to do that?" He stared her in the eye, and all of a sudden she found those emotionless blue eyes to be deathly menacing. "You should count your blessings that at least your parents weren't taken by the acts of others as opposed to by an accident. Look at Rocky." She turned to face the mixed breed pup who had long since embraced her during her story. "His father was ruthlessly executed by drowning in an inescapable solid cage after being framed. His mother suffered the same fate after trying to defend her mate. And Rocky had to watch the entire thing. Isn't that right?" Rocky shook his head yes, sorrowfully. The Expert continued, "And then there's me. My mother was framed, too, and falsely imprisoned - and she rotted away in the cell before they could even find out that she was innocent. My father ..." His maw nearly contorted into a growl, he felt so angry. "My father was scammed out of his entire life by a fake gambler who got him to play Russian roulette with a bloody full gun." He stood back up. "And you want to talk about loss?" **[...]**

Luna could only watch him in sheer disbelief. She'd never known all that, and now she was reconsidering her situation. Was it really as bad as she made it out to be? **[Probably yes, but there is definitely worse, as we've learned.]**

"I didn't want to make you feel bad," the albino pup said, his voice much softer. "I just wanted you to realise that there are others who have had similar, even worse experiences. I apologise if I was too hard."

"N-No, i-it's alright. Y-You said what I needed to hear," she replied as she stood up again, tears drying. "S-Still, that doesn't help us escape. How do we get past that?" **[I was half-expecting to drag something out of nowhere to put out the flames, while saying 'I knew this would come in handy!'.]**

"Let me look at it for us," Rocky offered. He unwrapped himself from around the girl and proceeded to observe the raging inferno.

As he did, The Expert said to Luna, "You seem to be more confident around us. You're not stuttering as often anymore."

"I-I am warming up to you and him, definitely. I still feel strange around - uh, my addiction, though."

"You don't have to hide that it's Rocky. I know already." **[Because The Expert.]**

"Well, you are an expert at these things," she jested. That got a half-shrug in response, which was sufficient to convey the message that he liked the joke. "C-Can you tell me if ... if he likes me too?"

"Yes, I can." The Expert was about to continue, but he saw Rocky returning and decided against his original course of action. "Let's see what he has to say first."

Luna shook her head yes and turned to face her addiction, who began, "The problem now isn't the fire. It's that behind the fire is a ..." he gulped. "... a waterfall. It seems as though it's been made perpetual by a strange recycling machine. I didn't even know perpetual motion machines were possible." **[They shouldn't be.]**

"They aren't," The Expert confirmed.

"Right ... If the pupnapper managed to make the water's capillary action strong enough to pull itself upward to be able to fall again, then the action would also be able to prevent the water from falling when it was supposed to," Rocky reasoned. **[Yes, yes, nice and scientific.]** "So then, how is he doing that?"

Suddenly, the faint sound of rushing water that had slowly become noticeable stopped entirely. An amazingly large bucket tumbled down into the chamber in which they were trapped, and soon the water sound started again. Rocky laughed. "That's how, apparently."

"Wait a second," Luna jumped in. "We can wait until the water's stopped, then try to go through the fire." **[Finally. Some other one of my characters shows some form of idea forming.]**

"That's a very good idea. Isn't that right, Rocky?"

The gadgeteer genius hesitated. "Are you sure you won't mind the flames, Luna?"

She flushed at his consideration. "N-No, I won't. Getting out of this hellhole, literally, is more important than a little singeing."

"Alright, if you say so."

With that, the three lined up in front of the wall of fire and prepared to jump when the sound of water disappeared. As they waited, though, Rocky noticed that the Shikoku still had a very apprehensive look on her face. **[This ought to be good.]**

Thankfully, it appeared that the bucket used was much smaller, so the sound vanished very quickly.

The Expert jumped first, as the example. His pristine white fur wasn't burnt in the least.

Rocky took the leap next, and he came out unscathed too. He immediately wheeled around to watch Luna, hoping that she'd make it through without problems. **[Of course. Wouldn't you do that too? Or are you just that cold-hearted?]**

When she didn't emerge, he shouted back to her. "Don't worry! We'll be here when you come through!"

"I'm not sure about this anymore!" she shouted back.

"Why not? The Expert and I already did it, and we're fine! You can do this!

"I-I don't think I can!"

"I believe in you! We believe in you!"

"I can't! I have a bad feeling about it!"

By now, the water was pouring again onto the aquaphobic mixed breed, but he didn't care anymore. He needed Luna to be out of that cave. **[You can grab some snacks. We might be here for a while.]**

"There's a pup in love," The Expert muttered as he watched.

"Come on, Luna! We need you out here!"

"Go on without me! I'll be okay!"

"No! We're not leaving without you!

"But - "

"No ghost of a chance in this world!"

"Why are you so adamant?"

"You're my friend!"

"You have more friends outside! Forget about me!"

"I can't!"

"Why not?"

"Because I love you!" **[Aaaand there it is. Awesome.]**

As though on cue, the water stopped flowing and allowed for a deafening silence to follow that sentence.

"You - you mean that?"

"Of course!" he yelled, no longer caring that any chance passerby might hear him. "I know it's on short notice, but I'm completely honest! And even if you don't feel the same, at least come out so ... "

He didn't say more, because he didn't get a chance to. Luna jumped through the fire fearlessly and ploughed over the drenched pup in utter ecstasy. **[Funny how that works.]**

"Rocky, you just made me the happiest girl in this world - because you are my addiction," she declared while giving him probably the biggest embrace that Rocky had ever gotten. "I love you too!" **[Tastes like diabetes. Might as well beat Stefan to it, am I right? ... No? Cool.]**

The Expert watched on, and soon at his side appeared Stefan. "Time to take them back!"

* * *

The four arrived at the Lookout, Rocky and Luna giving Stefan a thorough browbeating about what he had done to them in that time, but he didn't care. He would do anything for his friends, no matter how ridiculous. **[Well, bar murder.]**

Rocky and Luna, finally finished with The Criminal, stepped off to the green pup house where the ecology pup resided, chatting animatedly about something.

"Tastes like diabetes," Stefan stated happily. "I feel proud of myself."

"You did everything I said completely purposefully, didn't you?" The Expert asked him. Stefan laughed.

"Oh, by the way," Stefan started, "look at this." He produced a piece of paper that contained two messages on it. **[I wonder what these could be.]**

"'Hi Ryder, we will be having a new member of the family living here for the foreseeable future. I was wondering if we could finance her stay. Stefan.' Lovely." The Expert gave Stefan a look that looked normal, but behind it was all the mirth in the world. "'Stefan, yes, we can finance it. But you and your brother will have to do it. Consider it punishment for whatever ridiculous things you did to facilitate the change. Ryder.' Well, I hope you have some stolen riches left from your felon days."

Stefan laughed even louder. "What a great day." **[Indeed.]**

 **And there it is! We are done this substory story! I hope you have joined me for this three-day ride and have enjoyed every paragraph. If you did, great! I achieved my goal. If not, I can live with that; you're entitled to your opinion. Anyway,**

 **'Til next time, have a nice day!**


End file.
